If You Want Blood
by MadMooMe
Summary: As a hunter you learn pretty fast that your life is not your own. You are merely a weapon in a much larger war. The armour you build around yourself maybe stronger than Kevlar but when you have a human heart, someone will invariably find a way through.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own anything in the world of Supernatural. This is all just for fun.**

* * *

If you want blood….you got it

**Sometime, years ago.**

Dean Winchester sat up at the bar. One hand wrapped around maybe the fifth beer of the evening. His head was bent low towards the counter giving him a close up view of spilt beer and peanut bits.

AC/DC played on the jukebox. Generally speaking it was a particular favourite song of his, but not today. Today he couldn't seem to drown out the lyrics although he desperately tried.

'Jesus!' just how many times did the damn song mention the word 'blood' anyway.

He screwed his eyes shut as every line of the song forced the image of the young kid he and Sam hadn't managed to save. That lifeless body, those unseeing eyes…

Thump!

He pounded his fist on the counter forcing his mind away from the imagery. The bartender jumped at his sudden outburst and took a step towards Dean to reprimand his actions but stopped when Dean lifted his head to reveal glassy, apologetic eyes.

Sammy was off somewhere else, doing who knows what. Maybe back at the motel searching for the next case on the internet. It always surprised Dean just how different he and his brother were at dealing with all the stuff that happened to them.

Sam was no doubt coping with the loss of this kid by concentrating on the eight other kids they _had_ managed to save from the particularly gruesome spirit. Which was exactly what Dean was trying his best to remember. But the fact was, Dean wanted to save 'everybody' and couldn't handle it when he fell short.

Starting on his sixth beer he gave a little chuckle as AC/DC finally ended on the jukebox and was replaced by Kate Bush. He had never been so happy to hear the haunting tones of the British songstress.

He managed to lift his head long enough to cast an eye over the surroundings. Dark ,dingy bar, full of dark dingy folk. Pool table, neon beer signs, half-dozen booths that hadn't been re-upholstered since way before the smoking ban. It was exactly the place he liked. Dive bars were like fast food chains to him. He looked for one in every town they visited.

His eyes stopped on one of the booths. Two women sat on opposite sides of a table but Dean could only see the girl facing towards him. He'd seen them the moment he had entered the bar. The most noticeable thing about them was the lack of conversation. You either came to a bar to drink alone or you came to socialise. They weren't doing either of those things. The girl seemed to stare absently at the table or maybe she was staring at the glass of bourbon sitting on top of it. Dean knew that stare, it was the same stare he'd been sporting for the last two hours and it looked clear that she wasn't drinking the hard liquor to appear cool. It was a stiff drink. One you ordered because you damn well needed it. He could only guess what event the two girls had just lived through in order to give this girl such a pale complexion.

Chocolate-brown hair fell across her face as she lifted the glass with a shaky hand taking a long gulp of the dark amber liquid. She looked so fragile lifting the glass to her lips.

Dean considered walking over to check the two girls were ok but was beaten to the post by a stocky looking dude with a trucker cap and a denim jacket. He was too far away to hear what the guy was saying but quickly gauged from the girls reactions that it was unsolicited advice.

The blank stare the girl previously held quickly changed as Dean watched on. Her eyes narrowed with suspicion at the trucker-cap guy. Placing her glass carefully back on the table she slowly started to stand up. Dean guessed it was a confrontational move. He could almost see a storm swirling around her as she came level with the guy then kept on rising until her full height brought her towering over the denim dude.

Dean sucked in a breath as he looked on at the tall brunette in a bright pink vest top and tight jeans. Damn she looked anything but fragile now. She looked more like a smoking hot femme fatale.

Measured words came out of her mouth to the man she looked down on, Dean managed to lip read a few. 'Bad day', 'snap like a twig', and a good dozen F words were all in there. Whatever the full message, It seem to have had the desired effect. Trucker-cap reluctantly walked away with his tail between his legs.

The brunette had seemed to sense Dean spying on her all the while and she lifted her head to lock eyes with him. Her chin jutted forward slightly, daring him to attempt what the other guy had done.

Dean's stare lingered while he considered his options. He looked her up and down for a moment taking in the sight of the 'tall drink of water'. On a better day he would have taken up the challenge. Charmed his way over there but not tonight. He was too tired, too gloomy and too drunk. Thinking better of it he turned away from her stare and swallowed down the last of the beer.

Seeing his submission the girl seemed to relax and sat back down. He risked another quick glance to see the dark circles under her eyes as she quietly conversed with her friend. The tall brunette looked how he felt and Dean sincerely hoped they could get over what ever had made them that way.

How long had he been sat in that bar now? Too long. He pushed the empty bottle away and stood up feeling the hit of the alcohol for the first time. He'd done enough self-pitying for one night. Tomorrow it would all start again and he would need to have his head in the game.

With a heavy head Dean paid his tab and moved away from the bar. But he couldn't leave without chancing one more look over at the troubled brunette. His eyes lifted slightly and found that hers were staring straight back at him. He managed to offer a knowing nod. It was a gesture that suggested shit happens, but tomorrows a new day.

The girl offered back the saddest of smiles that made Dean's heart hurt a little. Then he turned his back on her and walked out of the joint, straight back to another in a long line of sleazy motel beds.


	2. Chapter 2

**Some hours earlier**

"Please let this be the end" Melody Graves pleaded in to the darkness. Blood spattered across her clothes and face. Exhausted and beaten she pulled her new favourite blade from the guts of the….. 'thing' that finally lay motionless across splintered floorboards.

"Lib! Libby!" she croaked out as loud as she could, completely unsurprised how shaky her voice sounded.

Her cousin quickly came running into the room, weapon out ready to attack whatever maybe there. Libby Graves the older of the pair by one year, tentatively kicked the monster ensuring it was dead before helping her cousin to her feet.

"You ok?" Libby asked, it was a stupid question but Melody found herself nodding in acknowledgement anyway. She really didn't have the words to explain how she actually felt. They had spent years getting to this point. An unexplainable mixture of fear and anticipation was running through her mind as she held the blade up to the moon light.

"Well, at least we know it works" she said to Libby letting the light catch the etched symbols embossed on the twelve inch silver blade with an iron core.

Libby looked at her cousin nodding with determination. They now had the means to kill a demon. Which meant it was time to find the particular one they had been waiting ten years to exact revenge on.

Melody looked down again at the dead demon and tucked away the blade. The battle was done for the evening but it left a hell of a lot of clean up.

It was still pretty early in the night when the two girls made it back to their camper van. A hotel down the street had a reservation waiting for them, but walking through the lobby with so much blood was just asking for trouble so they cleaned up as best they could in the back of the van.

Melody looked at her reflection in the tiny portable mirror and sighed at the vision staring back. She was barely recognisable to the girl she had been back in high school. Her once bouncy dark hair now hung lifeless and ratty past her shoulders and the face that had radiated youth and beauty just looked plain tired.

In high school Melody was that girl who had everything. She had grown up with money. By the time she was in senior year she had the car, the clothes and the boyfriend. The biggest worry in life had been getting accepted to college.

Now she was twenty-six years old, living in hotel rooms with her cousin. Those days of floral dresses and beach parties were well and truly over. Now pretty much everything she owned was in an overnight bag and they never stayed in a town long enough to be invited to a party, beach or otherwise.

'Oh! how the popular have fallen'.

She turned away from the view of herself and towel-dried wet hair. She had scrubbed away the demonic blood on her face but could still feel it and it made her sick.

"I don't know about you but I could seriously do with a drink" Libby said appearing behind her.

Melody nodded realising just how good that sounded then they headed to a bar they'd noticed on the way into town.

There was a time when neither girl would have been seen dead in a place like that. Shady people, nothing on the jukebox post 1986, dubious sticky floors. But times had changed and there was an atmosphere in dive bars that was a lot easier to handle than the overcrowded social drinkers of a sports bar.

Melody sat back in the booth and could feel cold metal of the demon-killing blade against her back. Now they had a weapon that worked there was no way she was letting it out of her sight.

The girls sipped whiskey in silence both taking in the enormity of what they had achieved. They could now go and find the demon that had killed Libby's mother, Melody's Aunt and actually have a chance of destroying it. The end to the horrible nightmare was in sight and both girls found the thought a little overwhelming.

While Melody wanted to just sit in quiet contemplation she realised that wearing a bright pink vest to this kind of joint may have been a mistake. But living out of the back of a van gave her little option for clean clothes and the vest was about all she had. It stood out among the grey's, blacks and dark greens that seemed to be favoured by the other patrons.

She could feel eyes upon the two of them and it was starting to agitate her. Being a girl of 5'10" had left Melody with an insecurity. Childhood taunts on her lofty height had made her uncomfortable receiving any sort of attention. Libby on the other hand could handle it. Having blonde hair, cute freckles and big blue eyes, her cousin learned early on how to handle unwanted interest.

Three guys over at the pool table were proving to be the biggest problem. Melody could hear whispered laughs and leering aimed in their direction. Libby who had her back to all this could see an unease growing in her cousin and tried to get Melody to ignore it. There was a concern that her short-tempered cuz was still on the offensive after their earlier demon encounter which wouldn't bode well for the average annoying human.

There was a guy sat over by the bar that wasn't helping matters. Melody had watched him arrive a little earlier. A big leather jacket with the collar up hid him mostly from view and his head was bowed low as though the weight of the world was holding it down. When he did lift his head his eyes seem to find Melody's direction. He had a darkness about him that unnerved her and she prayed that he, along with the pool table guys stayed just where they were.

No such look, a good ten minutes later the shortest of the three pool table guys headed in the girl's direction. He had a beer gut, a nasty looking trucker cap and such a smug expression that Melody wanted to slap it from his face the moment he came into view.

Libby took charge listening to the drivel the guy was spouting. A hundred unoriginal lines poured from his lips and the older girl smiled sweetly and tried to give him the gentle brush off but he wasn't for biting.

Melody stayed silence watching trucker-cap struggle to take No for an answer until she couldn't listen any longer. Her impatience got the better of her and she rose to her feet squaring up to the guy. Melody couldn't remember the exact words she said to him but they were not sugar-coated and they didn't beat around the bush. Trucker-cap was plainly informed of the imminent pain he would suffer if he didn't leave them alone.

As the dude walked back to his pool table friends Melody was aware of the bar guy's stare. He had been watching from the moment trucker-cap came over. He looked tired and beaten but still managed to be intimidating as hell.

Melody engaged his stare challenging him to the same treatment she had dished out to trucker-cap but prayed that he wouldn't take her on. Thankfully after a few moments he looked away.

She sat back down calming herself after all the events of the evening and finished her drink. Off in her peripheral vision Melody caught the bar guy get up and walk to leave. She couldn't help but look over at him as he walked away. There was a little exchange between them that strangely made her stomach flip but then he was gone.

That night as the girls lay on comfortable hotel beds Melody was surprised to find sleep come easily. The events at the bar drifted quickly out of memory on a day when they had killed a demon for the first time. The stresses of the day threatened to invade her dreams but instead her thoughts filled with a calming influence. She dreamed of colours flowing into each other. Greens and Pinks carried in waves across her mind.

Melody had no idea what they all meant but they left her feeling at peace and unafraid.


	3. Chapter 3

**Months later**

Castiel sat watching ducks swim across a small lake. It was peaceful and beautiful. He had been there alone a good three hours when a call for help came over the waves. He sensed it was Dean but there was something about it that didn't seem just right.

A second later the Angel was stood in some sort of rundown house watching the residual energy of a ghostly old woman run screaming towards two girls who sat huddled on the floor. The ghost had a truly terrifying shriek and he could tell looking at the state of the two girls it was giving the horrifying performance on a regular loop.

He looked round trying to find Sam or Dean but there was no sign. He was sure the distress call had come from this place he presently stood, but it was hard to make sense of everything with the apparition screaming through the house. Casting an eye around the room Castiel spied a silver Zippo on the floor next an old wooden hairbrush. Trying to put the pieces of the situation together he made an assumption that the girls were trying to rid the house of the spirit by burning one of the ghosts possessions.

Castiel picked up the lighter, struck it once and set the flickering flame to the old hair brush. Before his eyes the ghost burned up leaving silence in her absence.

He stepped over to the two girls who still sat huddled on the floor, their heads shielded by each others arms. He frowned looking down at them, becoming even more confused. It had been the dark-haired one that had sent the call for help, he could sense it from her, but he had been sure it was Dean.

Upon hearing the newly silenced room, the brunette cautiously lifted her head then recoiled backwards at the unexpected vision of the full-grown man in a long beige Mac standing in front of her.

She fumbled for her weapon whilst leaning forward pulling the blonde girl back with her keeping distance between them. Castiel frowned as he looked at their frightened faces.

"Dean?" he hesitantly asked. The Winchesters had been in some very strange situations over the years. The idea of a body switch wasn't beyond the realm of possibility.

"Do I look like a 'Dean' to you?" the brunette answered abruptly. Pointing her knife towards him at arm's length.

"No, you do not look like Dean but…you feel like him" Castiel answered finding it strange that this girl seemed to have a similar energy to his friend, it appeared that she may even have his short-temper too.

"I 'feel' like him, what the hell does that mean? Never mind, forget it. I want to know who you are and how you got in here?" she asked starting to stand and trying to help the blonde girl to her feet.

Castiel heard the blonde suddenly cry out in pain before he could give an answer. She was hurt. It looked like a damaged ankle, sprained or maybe even broken. He tried to step forward to offer his help but the dark-haired girl jabbed the knife forward warning him to keep his distance.

"I am Castiel and I heard your call for help" he politely answered

"How did you get that lighter to work?" she began looking at the Zippo Castiel still held in his hand.

"I have tried to get a spark on that thing for the last hour and got nothing, and how did you get in? The ghost pinned down every exit. We've tried to get out of here for ages" she asked

Castiel could see through her abrupt questions that she was trying to hold back tears, It appeared that they had been through an ordeal here and she wasn't as surly and fearless as she wanted him to believe.

"I only want to help, please let me help you" he said taking another step towards the blonde. Both girls cowered a little like injured animals but let him get close. He helped the blonde back to the floor and then placed his hand on her injured ankle. After a few moments the pain was gone.

Neither girl could speak as they witnessed the miracle of healing so Castiel took over the conversation.

"I take it you are both hunters. To be honest you do not look like other hunters I have met. How long have you been doing this?" he asked

"Hunters?" the blonde said not really recognising the term in the way it was meant to be.

"Yes, hunters. You hunt and kill the supernatural, that is correct, is it not?" Castiel clarified.

They nodded but didn't seem to want to share their life story with him. Castiel understood their hesitance. He was a stranger and hunters were not renowned for their trusting nature. The blonde looked well now so he took it as his cue to leave. He had come to help when they called and he had completed that task. He took steps away from the two girls.

"I should leave. I have put the ghost to rest. You should be safe now" he announced

The two girls thanked him for his help still a little stunned at what had happened. He was about to disappear when the brunette called out

"Hey! who is 'Dean' anyway?" she asked. Castiel thought about that for a moment. Who was Dean to him? His brother in arms? His friend? His family?

"Dean is…..important" was all he could think to say and watched the confused look on the girl's face. Then he vanished from the room.

Libby stood and walked around a little on her newly healed ankle. She looked over at her cousin who looked on startled by all that had just happened.

"He was kind of cute" she said and watched as Melody laughed a little and shook her head.

"Lib! The guy had a trench coat. Serial Killers and Flashers wear trench coats not to mention he just vanished into thin air. You have the most frightening taste in men" Melody answered brushing off the dust and cobwebs from her clothes.

"What do you think he was?" Libby followed up. It was obvious that he didn't have human status from the little magic tricks he had performed.

"I have no idea. Remember what 'Dave' said back at the road house. 'Everything you can possibly imagine is real'. So I would say that dude is on a very long list of possibilities"

The two shuddered at the name of Dave. The only guy they had encountered who knew about this kind of stuff. Occasionally when Google failed to provide the answers they needed, Dave was the second port of call.

Pushing that thought from their minds, Libby pulled opened the door letting in the cool evening air to the horror house. It was a relief to get out. The whole evening had been a foolish endeavour. Both girls had believed that if they could kill a demon then a ghost would be a cake walk. How wrong they had been. The screams of that ghostly old woman would surely follow them long into the evening.

* * *

Sam and Dean sat at the dining table in the motel. Sam was scrolling through the internet while Dean scanned pages of Bobby's journals. They both felt the change in the room and jumped a little to see Castiel stood in front of them.

The pair rolled their eyes at his preferred method of dropping by.

"Cas!, nice of you to join us" Dean said with a little sarcasm at his friend's ability to almost give them heart attacks with his sudden appearances.

The silence and deep frown across the angel's face caused Sam to look up

"Hey Cas are you ok? you look a little more confused than usual"

"I just came to check you were both well" he began intriguing the boys with that statement

"Why would we not be ok?" Dean asked looking up from his book

"I have just been to help two girls" Castiel began to explain

"Were they hot?" Dean quickly interjected forcing Sam to give him one of this reproaching glares

The question did not seem to put Castiel off though.

"I went because I thought they were you" he tried to explain. Causing the boys to look at him with growing concern.

"You thought we were a couple of chicks?" Dean asked horrified. But Sam feared there was more happening than Castiel was saying.

"Is there something else going on, Cas? Do these girls need our help?" Sam asked ready to pack up and follow the angel to their next case, but Castiel shook his head.

"No they are ok now, I just came here to check you were both fine and didn't require my help"

Dean stretched out on his chair yawning slightly.

"We're good Cas, I have pie if you want to stick around. We're going to watch a movie"

Castiel smiled a little at the invitation and watched as Dean handed his brother a beer before moving towards the TV.

"What movie are you watching?" Castiel inquired walking over to the spare chair.

"Any which way but loose or Tango and Cash?" Sam said with apologetic eyes but Dean took offence.

"These are good action movies Sammy, they don't make them like these anymore, you need to understand that" he said shovelling a mouth full of pie into his face.

Castiel sat back and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of the two brothers. He rarely witnessed this side of them. They were always so business focused, knee-deep in blood and guts, so it was good to see the fraternal bond in a calmer setting.

He watched Dean ease as Clint Eastwood's face filled the screen. After a few moments the hunter looked over at Castiel

"Hey Cas!, seriously, those girls you went to help. They are ok aren't they? They are not in any trouble?"

Castiel studied his friends for a moment ever amazed at their willingness to walk straight in to danger in order to help. Then he thought about the girls and the one he had mistaken for Dean. She had seemed to possess that 'Right Stuff' that ran through his two mortal friends. He figured that even if the brunette had only an ounce of spirit the Winchester's boasted they would surely be ok.

"I think they will be fine on their own" Castiel replied truly believing that to be the case and then sat back to enjoy the film.


	4. Chapter 4

**A few weeks later**

The Impala pulled up outside a diner on the main street in a town called Church. The brothers were a little surprised to see the amount of police activity so quickly at the scene.

"You think someone beat us to it?" Sam questioned as they both climbed from the car fully suited in their FBI garb.

The two had been busy interviewing victims of weird occurrences in the area and deduced the common denominator to be an accountant called Martin Underwood. No sooner had they got back into the car did they hear that a Martin Underwood had been found dead in a local diner over the police scanner.

Back outside the diner Dean stood on the sidewalk pulling uncomfortably at his neck tie.

"Well it's not the first time we've turned up somewhere and found that another hunter has cleaned up before us" he replied to Sam as the pair walked over to the diner.

They flashed their badges to gain access and greeted the police chief asking for a briefing on the situation.

The body of Martin Underwood lay bloody on the floor with a butter knife sticking out of his chest. That was number one on the list of things that didn't sit right with the scene. Demons were not normally ganked by general-use cutlery.

They listened to the police chief speak while scanning the rest of the scene. Blood splattered across the linoleum and diner counter. It was a messy view but nothing the brothers hadn't seen a thousand times.

"We have four witnesses. The couple over there by the window" the chief began, gesturing at a middle-aged husband and wife sat at a booth looking shell-shocked and being handed soothing cups of coffee by a deputy.

"And the two girls over by the counter" he added and pointed out a pretty blonde and a tall brunette.

"The story goes that Martin Underwood came in to rob the place, locked the staff in the store-room, attacked the married couple knocking them clean out. Then went after the girls" The chief told them and to that point it all sounded plausible.

"Then apparently the girls but up a fight and in among the tussle the guy took a fall and stumbled awkwardly into the knife" he concluded and that was the part the two brothers had problems with.

If they were going to work out what really happened they would need to speak to the witnesses.

Both brothers took a step towards the young girls, keen on interviewing them and not the married couple across the room.

They stopped realising the problem and instinctively both held out a fist.

"Ok, winner get's the girls" Dean announced as they counted to three on 'rock, paper, scissors'.

Sam won, which he always did because he knew his brother always went with scissors. Dean scowled as he turned his back on his sibling.

"Well don't go falling in love, Sammy, we both know that doesn't end well" he bitterly said incapable of letting his brother have the moment of triumph.

The comment rolled off Sam's back as he walked over to the girls sporting a rather smug grin.

"Hi, I'm Agent Tufnel and that over there is my partner Agent Smalls" Sam said, a frown growing across his forehead as he studied the cuts and bruises all over the girl's faces and arms. They certainly seemed to have taken a beating.

"I just want to ask you a few questions about what happened here" he began then noticed the tall brunette checking him out. Her forwardness made him a little uncomfortable and put him slightly off his game.

"Sorry, what was your name again?" she asked frowning a little

"Agent Tufnel, with the FBI" Sam replied almost nervously

"And your partner?"

"Smalls!" Sam repeated not noticing a tiny smile fleeting across the girls face.

"Could you just tell me what happened, as best you can remember?" Sam asked sincerely.

The pretty blonde started off with the account. Quoting the Police Chief's tale about Martin Underwood knocking out the married couple and locking away the diner staff.

"Then he came running at Melody pulling her all over the place…" she said then was interrupted by the dark-haired girl who continued the story.

"Yes, that's right, he punched me so hard, I couldn't see straight. I thought I was a goner, but then I managed to find some strength from somewhere. I kicked him as hard as I could between the legs" she said and Sam listened and could hear the slightest of wobbles in her voice as she recollected the event.

"Then with the slight upper hand I was all '_Hello Cleveland' _. I managed to get a few hits in and thought I was doing some damage but after a few minutes he seemed to '_turn it up to eleven' _and threw me against the counter".

Sam once again looked at the bruising along her arms from the impact of the counter as the blonde took over the story.

"He was a little dazed when he advanced towards me. It caused him to stumble and he fell into me. He must had hit one of the knives as he went down" she surmised.

"Hmmm. If he fell on top of you, then how is he lying on his back right now?" Sam asked suspiciously and watched as the blonde swallowed hard, hesitating before she answered.

"He was laid on top of me and I couldn't move, I had to push him backwards to get him off." she said and Sam found himself glaring at her, unconvinced by the story.

"The whole thing was really messed up, if I have to review it all within two words it would be '_shit sandwich' " _the brunette said forcing his eye contact away from the blonde.

"You can stop now Sammy, they know we're not Feds" Dean said appearing from behind his little brother. Sam looked confused at Dean's comments which in turn made the eldest roll his eyes.

"She sussed out our Agent names. The girl's been quoting lines from Spinal Tap for the last ten minutes" he said slightly exasperated at his brothers lack of pop culture knowledge.

It took Dean less than a minute to move into another well rehearsed lie.

"The truth is we're reporters and we'd heard about some strange incidents happening around here. We just wanted a bit of information for a story"

Both girls seem to bristle upon hearing the words 'reporters' and that's when Dean noticed a familiar looking mark on the brunette's wrist hiding beneath a group of friendship bracelets as she straighten up in readiness to leave.

"Listen, we are a little shaken up with the events here and you just made us relive it all for you. Right now we just want to go home and forget all about it." the blonde announced with a slightly aggressive tone.

The two boys stepped back hands up in submission. They let the girls walk out of the door, watching which way they headed.

"Did you see the tattoo on her wrist?" Sam said quietly to his brother

"Devils trap!" Dean confirmed

"And I saw a flash of a blade from behind the blondes back that looked a hell of a lot more effective than a butter knife" Sam added

"They didn't look particularly traumatized by the events did they?" Dean posed and then confirmed what they already knew

"They're hunters and sloppy ones at that" he added watching his brother start to move towards the door.

"Ok, let's go and head them off" Sam proposed then stopped briefly seeing his brother cast an eye once again over the blood stained counter. Dark red splashes ran all along the top and up the glass enclosed cake stand.

"Hey!" Dean shouted commandingly over to a waitress who looked pale and shaky from her experience at being locked up. The woman looked over at Dean expecting to be questioned more about what she had seen. Dean pointed at the cake stand.

"That pie, is it apple?"

Sam manhandled his brother by the shoulders and carried him out of the diner before Dean had time to hear an answer. He shook his head with utter amazement as they started up the street in the direction the girls went.

"You are truly unbelievable!"


	5. Chapter 5

The girls quickly put distance between themselves and the diner. It was a matter of time before the police realised the knife in Martin Underwood's chest was not an accident and they planned to be long gone by then.

Melody Graves thought they were free and clear until she heard the low growl of a car engine come from behind her. The following moment a long black muscle car pulled up in front of them almost mounting the sidewalk.

The tallest Fed/reporter guy leaned his head out of the window, concern filling his face as he called over to them.

"You need to get in the car" he said. Melody noticed there was a softness in his tone but his body language clearly suggested the request was non negotiable.

The persistence of these two guys was beginning to get a little scary and both girls shook their heads declining the offer. Libby cast her eye back towards the diner reminding her cousin that time was of the essence and standing on the street was not a good option.

The shorter guy seemed to notice their distress and leaned across his partner to the open car window.

"I'm guessing you realise you're both moments away from being on a Police most wanted list, so you need to get in the damn car. Now!" he ordered. His words a far cry for the gentle tone of his partner.

The cousins realised they had little option at that point. If they didn't get into the car then they were stuck being on foot which would cut down their chances of a clean getaway.

The car pulled back onto the street before Melody had managed to get the passenger door closed behind her. The boys seemed as keen to make distance from the town as they were. Silence filled the car as it drove to the outskirts. The rattle and roll of the engine seemed to have a calming effect on her. It was a strong sound like a steady heartbeat. It help to regulate her own.

"Where were you girls heading?" the taller one asked as he turned in his seat to look back at the two of them.

Melody studied him for a moment. She would definitely describe him as her type. He was super tall for a start and had beautiful high cheek bones. He looked strong and spoke softly. She didn't know who these guys were but _he_ made her want to find out.

"We were going back to my van. It's parked about a mile out-of-town" she answered then watched him glance at the other guy.

"Ok, we'll take you to your van and then we need to have a little chat. My name is Sam and this is my brother Dean" he said pointing over to the driver.

Melody caught Dean's eyes in the rear-view mirror. The brother certainly didn't seem to have the easy nature that Sam possessed.

"Melody"

"Libby"

The girls introduced themselves slowly taking a moment to wonder if they should use fake names but settling on telling the truth.

Sam smiled acknowledging the introductions then turned to face forward again as they travelled the rest of the way.

"Here! stop here! This is where we left the van" Melody called from the back seat as she caught sight of the VW Camper parked in a tree-lined lay-by.

"Seriously?!" Sam asked as he chuckled at the sight of the girls camper. His brother expressed quite the opposite reaction as he pulled up along side the vehicle. The guy looked horrified.

"You have got to be kidding me, this….this is your ride?" he yelled as though the mere sight of it was offensive.

They all got out of the Impala and Melody felt a little anger grow at Dean's constant confrontation.

"What is your problem? What is so wrong with my damn car?" she yelled back finding herself becoming strangely defensive over a hunk of metal on wheels.

"It's pink!" Dean exclaimed as though that answer alone didn't need expanding. But the girls blank expression made him say more.

"It's not even vintage or has a split screen" he said looking truly disappointed.

"What do you care what colour my ride is Dean?" she said and he seemed to take a step back for a moment

"My problem? My problem is that you are hunters. Hunters are supposed to stick to the shadows, they're supposed to hide in the dark. They do not gank demons in broad day light in the middle of diners then get caught at the scene by police, then attempt to escape in a bright pink get away car" He spoke with hostility as though he was a father lecturing disobedient children.

It had been only the second time someone had called them hunters. The mention of it brought back the memory of the strange guy that had saved them from the ghostly old woman.

Libby shook her head trying to make out she didn't know what Dean was talking about. The small blonde always excelled at the innocent act. But these guys weren't buying it.

Dean's fury hadn't diminished as he grab melody's wrist, turning it over.

"Don't pretend with us. We know you are hunters, we saw the anti-possession mark on your wrist" he said then rubbed his thumb over the black devils-trap inked across Melody's wrist. An unexpected tingling sensation shot through her body at the feel of Dean's light touch across her skin. It threw her off course for a moment and it took the sound of Sam's softer tone to bring her back

"Yeah, and we saw the demon blade you were carrying." Sam added pointing to the flash of silver peeping out under Libby's shirt.

"We're hunters as well" Sam continued quickly flashing the girls his own devils-trap tattoo under the neck of his t-shirt.

"We're the Winchesters" he added waiting for a spark of recognition from the girls and was surprised when it didn't come.

"Fine, you're hunters, we are hunters. What does it matter?." Melody asked just wanting to get into her camper and drive away having being done with the whole day.

"Listen, we have been doing this our whole life and to be honest we are pretty damn good at it. So when we meet someone who is putting themselves in danger, well we feel responsible" Dean said fury still whirling around him.

Sam stood in front of his brother for a moment trying to take the anger out of the situation.

"Look, you can't go around doing what you did today at that diner. You are going to get yourselves killed and maybe other people too. You are going to tell us your story and we'll see if we can help you". Sam said, gesturing over to a picnic bench at the far side of the lay-by.

As they approached the benches Melody stopped walking and looked at her cousin, once again remembering back to the strange guy who healed Libby's ankle. _Hadn't he mentioned the name Dean? _

"Hey, do…do you happen to know a guy in a trench coat?" she asked feeling a little silly for asking. There must be thousands of people called Dean around. But the description she gave of their ghost hero made the brothers whip around

"You know Cas?" Dean asked seriously, a quizzical look fell across his face while he waited for an answer.

_Was he called Cas? _She couldn't remember. Looking over at Libby for confirmation. Sam saw the girls struggle to recall and prompted them

"Castiel, his name is Castiel"

"Yes, that's him. Well, we don't know him, just met him the once but he made quite the impression" Libby said quickly glancing down at her ankle.

"So who is he?" Melody enquired and for the first time she saw a change in Dean as he considered the answer. His shoulders dropped, the anger around him seem to ebb.

"Cas is a friend" he simply said not expanding and Melody knew there was just more to that mystery man than meets the eye. But with that topic of conversation clearly going nowhere the girls sat down and told the brothers their story.

It was Libby's story to tell even though Melody had been there when it happened.

She let her cousin tell them about the night they arrived home together to find Libby's mother being tortured by the demon. It felt like they had told the story a thousand times. But Melody quickly realised when hearing it said out loud that they hadn't. In fact this was the first time they had ever told anyone else. It just felt like old ground because the images from that night lived with them every single day.

The boys listened quietly and she could see their eyes set to a trance on occasion. She wondered if they had been through a similar experience. Melody assumed they must have. Why else would someone become a hunter.

"My aunt made a deal with the demon" Melody said when Libby couldn't continue with the story and she watched as Dean seemed to guess the rest.

"Right, a crossroads demon. So don't tell me, you just happened to walk in 10 years later in time to see the hounds come a running"

Melody shook her head.

She had only discovered a few years later that the standard practice with the deal meant that it ended with Hell Hounds collecting the goods.

What they had walked in on was the actual demon doing it's own dirty work.

She closed her eyes and could see her aunt still alive on the floor, covered in blood and screaming as the monster cut into her, slicing and carving through her skin. The girls had tried to stop it but the demon slammed them against the wall holding them there by invisible force, making them watch the slow death of the woman who had brought them both up.

Neither girl would forget that evil smile as the demon told them that if you made the deal then you had to pay the price.

Melody looked up across the table at the two boys to see both of them looking away in silent thought. Her story had a definite effect on them.

"Ok" Dean began quietly, realising now that they weren't just a couple of girls who had read too much YA and wanted to play at being a hero. They had reason for doing what they were doing and he could respect that.

He stood up from the table and walked towards the pink VW.

"Right, show us what you are packing, I want to make sure you have the right tools for the job"

The girls pulled up the back seat in the camper to show the boys their weapons collection. There wasn't a lot there, a shotgun, a few hand guns and a collection of knifes.

Sam picked a few up and studied them. They were good quality, most bought new, unlike the stuff they had collected and stolen over the years.

"Where did you manage to get all these?" he asked.

The girls looked at each other before reluctantly admitting the truth.

"We have money. Quite a bit. That was what my mom made a deal for. Now we are using it to get revenge" Libby said ready to feel the judgement that maybe her Mom got what she deserved, trading her soul for a life of fortune.

But the boys said nothing, they learned a long time ago that things were always more complicated than they appeared to be.

Sam walked back to the Impala opening the trunk and pulling out various items.

"Here, you're going to need these" he said handing over a multitude of objects.

The girls took hold of what looked like a bag of rock salt, holy water, wooden stakes, something that looked like a syringe of blood, which they later learned was dead mans blood and some paper with Latin on it.

Dean started trying to offer more help and it was appreciated but they didn't want it. It was hard to explain but finding this demon was a private matter. It was important to do it themselves.

"You can't continue out there on your own. I honestly don't know how you have managed to even live this long" he said

"Don't worry we have someone we can contact for help If we really need it" Melody said expecting the brothers to just accept that answer

"Who?"

Melody rolled her eyes at having to explain herself

"He's called Dave and lives over in Lubbock". she said then watched as both guys eyebrows nearly reached the sky.

"Dave Marsh? Crazy Dave Marsh with the long hair and scar on his forehead?" Melody nodded not quite believing that the boys knew who he was.

"That's your contact? Just Awesome. As I seem to remember that guy is not easy to get information from" Dean began clearly unhappy with the girls choice of hunter friends.

"In fact if I remember rightly he likes payment for any information he gives out and I don't mean payment in a monetary way" he said studying the girls reaction.

Both Libby and Melody avoided Sam and Dean's eye contact. It was true. That's why the guy was the very, very last resort. He liked the personal treatment and the girls were ashamed to admit they had given it to him.

Melody heard the guys mutter expletives under their breaths then Sam pulled out a contact card.

"We can accept that you want to do this your own way, but please if you need help and information don't go to Crazy Dave. Call us and we'll do what ever we can"

She took the card. 'Agent Tufnel of the FBI'. It was the fake name he used at the diner, but he assured her that the number worked.

They talked a while longer, offering advice and help in getting the girls where they needed to be, but eventually it was time to part ways. Libby climbed into the camper van and Melody was about to follow when Dean called her back.

"Hey Mel!" he said shortening her name like they had known each other years.

"One last thing. Get rid of the van. It looks likes someting that would happen if Barbie stole Scooby-Doo's ride"


	6. Chapter 6

**6 months later**

Sam pushed a shirt into the bag that lay across his motel bed. A familiar low rumble had him grinding his teeth and each item packed was done with increasing aggression. He looked over at the source of the annoying sound to see Dean's smug face laying across the bed enjoying 'magic fingers' once again.

It was one of those infuriating habits that was amplified 10 fold when living so closely with someone. Sam found himself gripping the sides of his now full bag, seconds away from hurling the thing with as much force as possible at his brothers face. Luckily his cell phone rang and the lack of caller ID had him intrigued enough to steer his thoughts away from sibling violence. He answered the call cautiously

"Agent Tufnel?" the female voice on the other end asked

"Err…..yes, this is Agent Tufnel" Sam replied his eyes instantly finding his brothers. Dean sat up and listened with interest as he put the phone on speaker.

They both rapidly tried to think back to when they had used that alias. They'd had so many fake names over the years it was often hard to remember who they were supposed to be.

There was a pause at the other end of the line and Sam could tell that the caller was uncomfortable having to phone them.

"Listen…I can't remember your real names but I can tell from your voice that you're the tall sexy one" the girl said making Sam gulp with unease at being described as such. Dean just smirked at his brothers awkwardness.

"Derek? or something like that was the other guy with you. He was the cocky SOB who thinks he had all the answers" she said wiping the smirk instantly from Dean's face and in turn placing one on his brothers.

"Yeah, ok lady I can hear you. Now who are you? and what do you want?" Dean butted in gruffly making Sam smile even more at his brothers hurt response.

"We met you a few months ago after an incident at a diner…" the girl began keeping things vague, maybe she was in a public place and couldn't talk freely.

"I was with my cousin and you gave us some advice because we are in similar lines of work" she continued causing the boys to trawl back through old cases trying to remember meeting the girl.

"Yeah, yeah, I remember you. The pink Mystery Machine right? The cute blonde and Barbie-Doo". Dean said picturing Libby and Melody Graves standing by the side of that bright pink camper van.

Sam shook his head at his brothers blunt description of the two girls and took back charge of the conversation.

"What exactly do you need?" Sam asked moving away from where his brother sat.

"Well, as you know, this job of ours, it gets pretty solitary and a while back we met a guy in the same line of work and he wasn't…" she paused causing Sam and Dean to frown heavily wondering what she was going to say. They knew a fair amount of hunters and knew a fair amount of douche bags as well.

"Let's just say he wasn't a good guy" Melody settled on.

"Anyway, I was wondering if you're not too busy or too far away whether you could come and help me out." she said

The boys looked at each other. They had literally just finished a case and were planning on a few days off. Rest and relaxation were on the immediate agenda.

"Where are you?" Sam asked walking over to one of the maps on the table. Pointing at her location as she gave it to him, then working out just how long it would take to get there.

Dean shook his head at Sam, begging him silently to decline.

They argued in hand gestures and whispers aware that the phone remained on speaker. The prolonged silence clued Melody in to a problem at their end of the line.

"I not asking you to come down here and fight a damn army. I just need a little help and support. One evening tops" Melody almost begged.

Dean caved when he heard the desperation in her voice and held his hands up in defeat to his brother.

Sam turned back to the map and placed his finger on a small town.

"Ok, Melody we are pretty far away from you but if you start driving south we'll meet you somewhere in the middle. You need to head to a town called Royale in Nebraska" he advised, finishing the conversation then ending the call.

"What the Hell Dean, she's asking for our help and you don't want to go" Sam yelled at his brother .

Dean couldn't answer. He laid back on the bed and covered his head with his hands. He remembered the girls. Could picture their faces when he closed his eyes. They weren't real hunters, they weren't jaded and beaten down like the rest of them. It was just a matter of time before they were dead. He knew he was being selfish but he really didn't want to get to know someone else just to watch them die some point down the line.

* * *

Darkness had fallen when they finally arrived in Royale but it didn't take long to locate the girls.

"Is that what I think it is?" Sam said forcing them to lean forward and look out of the windscreen straight at the pink camper van parked outside a bar.

"I swore I told her to dump that thing" Dean growled under his breath as he pulled the Impala along side it.

Inside the bar, Sam spotted Libby at the far end and pushed his way through the crowds to get to her. The joint certainly seemed the place to be for the evening.

Libby frowned seeing them approach as though she didn't know they were coming.

"Hey, I know you two. You were the Feds over at that diner. What are you doing here?" she said slightly slurring her words.

"Wait! So you weren't expecting us?" Sam asked a little puzzled then turned and saw Melody coming back from the bar with two beers in tow. The tall girl stopped when she saw them, a look of guilt evident on her face.

"Did you call these guys? I can't believe you. Did you think they would come and change my mind?" Libby barked at her cousin.

"Hey, Hey. One of you needs to tell us right now why we have just driven two and a half hours up state on our day off" Dean demanded in his usual surly tone. He grabbed one of the beers in Melody's hands that was meant for Libby and took a huge swig.

Libby spoke while her glare remained fixed firmly on her cousin.

"I told Melody yesterday that I'm out. I can't carry on this mission to find the thing that killed my mom. I've had enough".

Dean sat down opposite Libby handing the girl back her beer.

"Well, that is the first sensible thing I've heard come out of either of your mouths since the very first moment I met you" Dean said

Sam went to get more drinks and returned asking what had happened for the sudden change of heart.

"We helped a guy out on a job. His name was George Palmer" Melody began.

The brothers shifted in their seats at hearing the guys name. They knew him. Pretty well in fact. He was an exceptional hunter that had joined forces with their father on more than one occasion. Unfortunately he was ruthless. George Palmer didn't care how the job got done or who got hurt in the crossfire.

"He had a plan to go in a kill a nest of vampires. We were so prepared and ready, but it turned out he walked us right into a trap" Libby said swallowing down the rest of her beer, leaving it for Melody to continue.

"I don't mind going in as bait, just as long as I know that's my role before hand. But he just served us up as the main course to these monsters while he bided his time to pounce" she said looking at the distress in her cousins eyes.

"It was a fight for our lives that we almost lost. We managed to take four down before George came to join the fight" Melody added then took a hearty swallow of her own beer.

"You ganked four vampires?" Sam asked with a little admiration in his tone.

Dean knocked back a shot of tequila while studying the pretty blonde. She had beautiful blue eyes and a sexy little pout. He could see how their partnership could work so well. She would lure in the monsters with her sweet damsel appearance then the tall 'drink' could stab them in the back. Or slice their heads off if the situation required.

But the fact that she was sat in the bar saying she wanted out was exactly why the girl wouldn't live long as a hunter. The stuff they dealt with didn't really ever get any easier or less scary.

These girls had only been hunters for a few years. They still remembered how to live a normal life, they could go back to it.

"I hear you blondie, I wouldn't wish this life on my worst enemy. If your head and heart aren't in the game then go and make a proper life for yourself. Fall in love, get married, have babies" Dean replied his eye contact fixed on Libby making her smile a little that she had found someone that was actually listening to her.

He clinked his bottle neck against hers in toast of her decision then saw Melody sulk off in his peripheral vision. He looked over at Sam asking him what was wrong.

"She asked us down here to talk Libby out of leaving the business not to help her pack". he said

Dean cursed loudly then rose from his seat.

"Sammy get another round of beers. I'll go and talk some sense into her" he said then headed back out into the parking lot.

He found her sat inside the camper and headed over to issue yet another of his jaded and condescending lectures.

"Listen sweetheart, I'm not about to lie and tell a terrified girl to continue risking her life everyday just to keep her damn cousin happy" he said

Melody lifted her head to face him, her hand wrapped round the neck of a newly opened bottle of vodka as she sat on the step of the camper. Her feet rested on the asphalt outside.

"She's not terrified. Actually she's fearless. Much more than I am anyway" she said but Dean found that hard to believe from the feisty brunette.

"Fear isn't the problem, it's trust. Sometimes we can't do this crap alone and it seems that every hunter we meet for help wants to screw us in one way or another" she said leaning back against the seat, drinking down the vodka like it was water.

"So what makes you think that we are any different?" Dean asked as he took hold of the vodka she held out for him.

"Last time we met, you offered us help and asked for nothing in return. Yesterday I asked you to drive across the country and you did, no questions asked"

Dean thought about that for a minute as he leaned back against the passenger door of the Impala. The two vehicles were parked side by side close enough that as he relaxed his posture his feet entangled with hers in the space between them.

He passed back the vodka.

"I won't go and tell Libby to change her mind Mel, I think this whole 'kill the demon' thing is your mission not hers and you think keeping her close will be the only thing that will stop you from going to the dark side" Dean said

He saw a little too much of himself in the girl he sat across from. Libby clearly was to Melody what Sam was to him.

"I need her to help me, I can't do it alone" she said wearily

"So don't do it at all, go and live a better life" Dean begged

Melody shook her head, silently telling him that wasn't an option.

"Why not?" he demanded and watched her look down at the now half empty vodka bottle. She took a long deep breath then began to tell him what was her driving force.

Melody had been 18 years old when her Aunt died but it wasn't until after she had turned twenty that she and Libby began on their demon quest.

After waking up in a hospital bed the day after her 20th birthday from an accidental overdose. Melody knew that things needed to change.

Libby had spent those same two years shut up in a psychiatric hospital. It seemed telling the Police and authorities that a demon killed her mother bought a one way ticket to the crazy house.

Poor Libby spent that time on a cocktail of prescription drugs while her cousin worked her way through the illegal kind. Settling on anything that would stop her remembering what she had seen.

"Guilt threatened to kill me in that hospital bed. I could feel it eat at me from the inside. I just stood back and watch them take away my cousin and I did nothing to stop it. Just walked away and stuck my head in the sand" Melody told Dean. Her eyes welling thick and fast

It took me two years to work out what was right. Then I busted Libby out of that crazy house and promised her that I wouldn't stop until I had ended that monster that had not only destroyed her mother but us along with her".

Dean watched as she lifted her head to the sky trying to force the tears back in to her eyes. She was so determined to not let any of them fall.

He had to really try and imagine what it would be like to walk away from his family. He had never been given that option. John Winchester had pushed him towards the fight every day of his life since he was five years old.

But he could clearly see what effect that decision had on the brunette.

An earlier thought hammered through his brain. He hadn't wanted to take this trip. These two girls were just meat for the grinder. He didn't want to get to know them or let them in, but holy crap! they were making it so damn hard not to. He looked over to her almost regretting his next words.

"Listen. Sam picked this town to meet because there is a case here. Most likely a vengeful spirit. We could probably do with an extra pair of hands to sort it out. So why don't you go get your cuz to do one last job and we promise not to use you as bait" he said

Melody looked over at him, a sad smile of gratitude on her face . He had a fleeting thought that he had seen that smile somewhere before but then the moment was gone.

"It'll give me a chance to see what skills you can bring to the table and you never know it might get me off your back about changing career's" he added and grabbed the bottle of vodka from her grasp for another hit.

Melody stared intensely at him for a moment while they sat, leaning against their rides. The stars were visible above and muted cheers sounded from the bar. Her head tilted and the softest of smiles grew from her mouth.

"You know, you're actually not bad looking once you drop the whole scowling thing"

Dean chuckled to himself as he straightened up. His eyes glued to hers unable to look away.

"That's funny because I was just thinking the exact same thing about you".


	7. Chapter 7

**Months later**

Sam's phone rang while he was at the wheel of the Impala. Casting an eye at the display he saw it was Melody and took the call.

"Hey Melody, how's it going?"

Dean watched his brother blush slightly as he spoke on the phone and could tell Melody was flirting with him again. They spoke for a couple of minutes but traffic was starting to build so he passed over the phone to Dean

"Barbie-Doo!"

"Derek!"

They always greeted each other that way. Melody had mistakenly called him Derek at some point and remembered how it irritated him. Dean swore he would call her Barbie-Doo until she ditched the pink camper van.

They spoke for a while, Melody asking for advice on a case. Ever since the job they did together in Nebraska they had stayed in touch. It turned out both girls were pretty handy in a fight.

Sam and Dean had hoped their little encounter with the vengeful spirit in Royale, Nebraska would have proven that the girls were totally unsuitable to the lifestyle. Unfortunately they had some skills and more importantly the balls to walk into a fight when they didn't really know what they were walking into.

Melody had been right when she said her cousin was fearless. Libby had walked around the abandoned factory like it was a well visited ghost train. She barely flinched at whatever the spirit threw at her.

After Nebraska Libby had returned to the mission of destroying the demon that killed her mother. Finding people she could trust had been the key. Sam had given her Garth's number as well as their own.

Back in the car Dean ended the phonecall as he always did. Telling the girls to take care.

* * *

**3 days after that**

"Thank you for talking to us Mrs Harris, We'll let you know if we find anything out" Sam said and then turned to his brother who was already pulling at his neck tie. Playing FBI agents was all good and well but they weren't suit people. Dean always felt like he was on the way to being strangled with one of them on.

They turned to walk away from Mrs Harris and her personal tragedy, taking in what she had said and trying to piece together their latest puzzle. No more than a half dozen steps away from the house and Dean's phone rang.

He gave a side smile at the name on the caller ID. "It's Mel" he said turning to Sam and putting the phone to his ear.

"Dean!".

The smile on his face dropped instantly. All she had needed to say was his real name and he knew something was wrong.

"Where are you?" he said and his brother watched him look up to the skies mentally calculating the length of the journey to meet her.

"Ok, sit tight, I'm on my way." he instructed and hung up the phone, looking over to Sam

"It's Mel and Libby, We gotta go to Buffalo" he said pulling the tie completely off.

"Dean we're in the middle of a case we cant just….."

"This is more important!" Dean barked

"There have been six dead bodies, if we leave now there's probably going be a whole lot more" Sam said trying to reason with his brother

The two were set in a stand off, both staring silently waiting for the other to back down.

Dean hated when his brother was the voice of reason. He knew they couldn't leave the current situation, it was a mess and the monster needed to be ganked fast. But Dean felt a need to help those two girls, he couldn't explain his reasoning, he just _needed_ to.

"Another hunter must be near to their location, we should call someone and let them check on the girls" Sam added, again a good sensible idea. Dean put his cell to his ear.

"Garth! Where are you right now?" he asked and Sam smiled glad that his brother was seeing sense.

"Good, I need you to come down here and help Sammy out on a case. Something has come up and I've got to split" Dean said watching the expression change on his brothers face.

"Why do you have to be the one to go?" his brother yelled, anger obvious in his tone.

"Because I feel responsible. A few months ago we were all sat in a bar listening to the blonde say she was all for quitting. Then I suggest they join us on a hunt and after that she's back on board" Dean explained shaking his head at his own stupidity.

"They made their own choices Dean, they are adults not kids" Sam tried to argue, but he knew his brother too well and the stubborn guilt he felt in not being able to save everyone.

Garth showed up just over an hour later and Dean was in the car driving across country within seconds of receiving his obligatory hug from his weedy-looking friend.

"Goddamn it" Dean cursed as he threw his phone across the passenger seat with rage. He'd been trying both girls cell phones every 15 minutes for the past two hours and had no response. He put his foot down on the gas and prayed he'd make it in time.

The sun was rapidly setting when he arrived at the address Melody had hastily given him over the phone, Dean stood in the centre of the kitchen of an old abandoned farmhouse. The place was covered in blood and the girls were nowhere to be found.

He had no clue where to look next. Thoughts whirled around his head and he crouched down to the floor cursing while trying to calm himself enough to find order in his mind. Luckily one idea rose above the rest as he once again looked around at all the blood. Someone was hurt bad and the best bet would have been to go to the hospital.

Dean drove a little way until he found a decent cell/wifi signal then set about searching databases and scanners for anything that could match his girls. After a good forty minutes he found something hopeful down at the city hospital.

"Hey, my name is Detective Ramis and I'm here to see a couple of girls that came in some hours ago. Tall brunette and small blonde?" Dean said flashing is badge at the hospital front desk. He added a little pout and leaned over the desk towards the nurse who was staring at his badge. Dean wasn't above using his sexuality to help him get what he needed.

The nurse obliged and took him through a number of corridors until they arrived at the room. Dean stood by the doorway and looked in at the body laying motionless in the bed. The nurse left him alone and he tentatively took a step towards the beeping machines, tubes and wires that seem to surround the girl.

The sight made him feel sick. Libby looked barely recognisable lying so still and so pale.

"She's not long been out of surgery" a voice said behind him.

He knew it was Melody but she sounded so forlorn, Dean turned and saw a battered and bruised version of the tall feisty girl he had come to know. Even though she looked like she'd gone a few rounds with Mike Tyson his heart lifted knowing that she was stood there on her own steam and not in a bed like her cousin.

"What the hell happened?" Dean asked and watched her walk over to the bed and stare at Libby.

"The demon found us. The one that killed my aunt. All these years we've been trying to track it down and in the end it came and found us" she began.

Dean listened as she continued.

"It seems getting pally with a Winchester suddenly lights you up on the radar. The monster couldn't have cared less about us before, but now…Well we had seemed a little more threatening" Dean noted she used past tense on her last statement.

Melody faced away from Dean, he could see her grip the edges of the bed. She was such a tough thing and never let anyone see her cry but he could tell she was going to struggle this time.

"They don't know if she'll make it, the son of a bitch broke her back. It came out of nowhere and we didn't have a chance" she said and Dean could hear the break in her voice.

He let her just _be_ for a minute. A little time to find composure, but composure wasn't to be found. Her shoulders went first then her head dipped forward, lastly it was her inability to speak. Emotions had got the better of Melody and she couldn't stop herself from breaking down.

"Hey!…Mel!… Hey! Dean said lightly, moving towards her and placing a hand on her shoulder. Melody tried to shrug him off but he kept coming. She turned away the closer he became refusing to let him see her cry.

In the end Dean couldn't take it any more and pulled her around. He wrapped his arms around her as she fell against his chest. Heavy sobs accompanied the tears that he felt against his heart. Dean did his best to comfort her but there was nothing that could be said to ease her pain.

"I can't lose her, she's all I have. I just don't know what to do" Melody sobbed into Dean's T-Shirt.

There was despair to her voice and her legs seem to give way a little. Dean helped her slowly down to the floor until they were both sat on the ground, legs entangled in each others. He held her close feeling utterly helpless whispering pointless words of comfort.

* * *

Greens and Pinks swirled around like gentle breezes. Melody knew she was dreaming. She'd had the dream so many times. It came to help her when life got a little too much. The colours always preceded the feeling of sanctuary. Those shades wrapped around her leaving only calm and security. Melody let the sensation wash over her, until she felt at peace but something was different. That familiar feeling of security felt more physical than before. The colours grasped a little tighter than usual. It forced her to wake from the world she was inhabiting.

Opening her eyes she found the source of the extra calm. Dean Winchester still had his arms wrapped around her. Melody realised she must have cried herself asleep, something she could quite easily do again after hearing the beeping of Libby's monitors.

Lifting her eyes up to his face Melody saw a peaceful looking guy. His eyes closed and breathing even. The pair of them were still tangled together on the floor. She wondered how long they had been there.

Being so close to the surly warrior suddenly gave her an unexplained urge to kiss him. His lips were mere inches away from hers. If she was careful Melody believed she could lightly press her lips against his just for a second without him noticing.

She reached up staring at those perfect pink lips and softly tasted them. The sensation made heat momentarily run across her skin. They were a little dry from the AC and she could taste alcohol there too. Melody held her lips there for a little longer than intended then pulled away, instantly wanting to do it again, but to her shock she found him staring straight at her.

Her breath seemed to freeze in her throat realising he wasn't asleep just resting. Neither seemed able to move with shock at what had happened.

Eventually her brain suddenly kicked into gear and she pulled her self away from him. Managing to get to her feet.

"I'm so sorry Dean, I don't know why I did that, please forgive me" she begged starting to become distressed. Honestly unaware of why she had just kissed him.

" I asked you here to help me and instead I tried to kiss you. How could I do that while my cousin is fighting for her life?" she shouted a little disgusted by her own behaviour.

Silently Dean rose to his feet, his expression was serious and a little dark. She found it impossible to work out what he was thinking. _What was he thinking? _He took a step towards her but a sound stopped them both.

Melody looked up to see Sam standing in the doorway. She ran to the door throwing her arms around him, using him to hide her embarrassment over what just happened.

Sam's presence lifted the tension in the room. They sat and talked for a good half hour covering every detail of the girls ordeal. The main concern was that the demon could come back and finish what it started, and that wouldn't end well while the girls were so weak.

"I've booked in at a motel a couple of miles down the road" Sam said

"That's good I think you should take Mel there and the both of you get some rest. I'll stay here and watch over Libby " Dean suggested but Sam just looked at him in disbelief.

"Dean! you haven't slept for over two days, you are the one who needs to rest. I'll stay here, you two go back to the motel" he ordered his brother.

Dean conceded and shared a quick glance of acceptance with Melody.

'_Great'_ she thought. That wont be awkward at all.


	8. Chapter 8

It was hard for Melody to leave the hospital. Just removing herself from Libby's room felt like pulling on an invisible tether that joined them. She was tired, hurting and needed sleep but also terrified that if she left, it could be the last time she saw her cousin alive.

Sam had taken hold of her by the shoulders forcing her eyes to gaze into his.

"I got this. I promise you if the slightest thing happens, I will call you". Sincerity poured from the eye contact they shared.

Melody nodded taking a last moment with Libby, brushing a strand of blonde hair away from her cousins face and saying a silent prayer. After that there was nothing left to do but follow the older Winchester out of the hospital.

The motel was only twenty minutes drive but felt so much longer. The embarrassing kiss was still playing on her mind and she felt compelled to say something to Dean about it.

"I'm so sorry for kissing you back there. I'm not sure why I did it. Maybe because you were there when I woke up and…"

"Already forgotten" Dean replied quickly stopping Melody from entering to an emotional conversation and getting them to both think about their feelings.

Melody nodded and left the topic alone. The Winchesters drove across the country acting heroically everyday, it was easy to imagine that she wasn't the first girl that had momentarily fallen under their charms. That thought made her feel a little better.

Breathing a sigh of relief she leaned against the passenger window and closed her eyes for a minute.

That hum of the car filled the air. It really was a good sound. So steady and continuous. She had only been in the car a couple of times but it always felt like a safe place. It felt like an extension of Dean and those arms he'd wrapped around her at the hospital.

She was amazed at how it ran so well, the car was pretty much fifty years old. It coughed and spluttered when the engine turned over or when it was idling to a stand still, but out on the open road it roared with strength and stability.

She knew it must take a considerable amount of care to keep the car in such good condition considering the amount of miles it must do. Her mind unintentionally wandered to images of the brothers working on the car, shirtless and oily like something out of an old Levi's commercial.

"I love this car" she whispered and prayed that Dean hadn't heard. There was an ongoing argument between them regarding their choice of vehicle. After his last comment about her pink camper van she had retaliated with her own insults.

'_You can talk about inconspicuous, haven't you looked around lately. The world's full of hybrids and hatchbacks and you are driving around it a huge black shiny monster. Tell me the truth. How many times do you have to drive around the block before you can find a space big enough to park that thing?'_

The hurt look of his face had been priceless.

The Impala suddenly jerked and Melody opened her eyes noticing for the first time just how exhausted Dean looked at the wheel. She had taken Sam's comment that his brother hadn't slept in days as an exaggeration but looking at him now it was clear he was moments away from falling asleep.

"You ok?" she asked

"Fine" he replied gruffly and she knew him well enough that he wasn't about to pull-over and let her behind the wheel if she suggested they switch places.

"Can we have some music on?" she asked hoping the sound would help keep them both awake.

He reached out and twisted the knob letting 'Creedence' fill the air.

"Hey I love this one" Melody stated, singing along. The corners of Dean's mouth lifted as he listened, then shook his head and laughed.

"Don't ever audition for 'the voice'." he quipped but the comment didn't bother her. The noise kept his focus on the road and that's all that mattered.

* * *

The motel room was a dump. It was damp and had a funky smell she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Do you always stay in places like this?" she asked, not quite knowing where the best place was to sit down. The girls had always managed to book hotels that had star ratings, room service and an in-house gym.

"Pretty much, sometimes we camp on abandoned factory floors, or sleep in the car".

Melody hadn't quite realised just how hard 'the life' must have been for them. She had heard from other hunters that they had been living this way practically all their lives. But standing in that room watching him move around, boiling water for coffee, made her heart hurt. The brothers clearly had no possessions. All they seem to have was each other and that car.

"I can't believe your dad made you live like this" the words came out before she could think better of it

"He did the best he could, Mel!" Dean replied defensively

A feeling of shame washed over her then. Questioning parental decisions was the last thing she was qualified to do. Her own parents had abandoned her into the care of her Aunt. At least John Winchester cared enough to keep his family together, teach them to protect themselves. Her family walked away when she was six months old and never returned.

The comment seemed forgotten as Dean turned to her with his business face on.

"Ok, I think it's best if we sleep in shifts. If the demon is planning on finishing the job then we need to be ready. So you take a bed and I'll carry out the first watch"

Melody couldn't quite believe the guy stood in front of her. He clearly thought he was Arnie in Terminator 2. Determined to protect and fight until he fell to pieces. He desperately needed sleep but was to stubborn to concede and it forced Melody to think diplomatically.

"I've got to be honest Dean, my head is too full of crap right now to find sleep. I need a little time to clear things out, why don't I take the first watch" she said and watched him consider that idea for moment.

"Ok, I'll only need a couple of hours rest and then we'll swap" he said pouring the boiling water over a cup of coffee and handing it over to Melody.

She set up sentry duty at the table with clear view of the door and window. One hand solidly held a revolver and the other, her cell phone in case Sam phoned from the hospital. Dean was asleep pretty much as soon as his head hit the pillow. Lying a top of the sheets, still clothed and with his boots on.

The hours passed as she sat guard, Dean clearly needed more than a couple of hours rest so she had let him be. But tiredness was creeping up fast and she knew she would soon have to wake him to change over. An opportunity seem to present itself when the guy started making muffled sounds.

It started off so quietly Melody wasn't sure if she had heard right but soon agitated cry's from the grizzly dude grew louder and more frequent. The guy was having a nightmare.

"Dean!…Dean! Wake up!" she called out from across the room but he didn't stir.

Both boys had nightmares from time to time. They heard each other cry out in the night and had gotten used to the sounds. Each new horror tended to cancel out the one before but their experiences in 'Hell' were pretty hard to beat. Those were the ones that invaded their sleep and they doubted that would ever change.

Melody knew none of that information. She and Libby had heard stories about the Winchesters from other hunters but they had sounded so far-fetched neither girl felt there was anything there to believe.

In the end Melody couldn't take Dean's cries any longer and went over to the bed.

"Dean! Dean!" she tried again from a much closer distance but he still didn't wake. A hand hesitated above his shoulder then eventually rested gently shaking him awake.

The reaction was lightning quick, within a second Dean had pulled the Colt .45 from under his pillow and was pointing straight at Melody. Her own reflexes weren't too bad as she managed to grip his wrist turning the gun slightly so it wasn't directed at her head.

Close to a heart attack Melody went to yell at Dean but looked at his eyes and saw from his unfocused stare that he was between worlds. Awake but still stuck in the bad dream.

She managed to calm her own heartbeat long enough to concentrate on bringing Dean back round.

"It's me! Mel!. You're ok, you're ok" she repeated softly and watched as his vision cleared and he looked at himself holding a gun towards Melody.

"Son of a bitch" he shouted realising the effect the dream had on him. He slowly lowered the gun trying to get his breath back.

Melody sat on the edge of the bed worried at how much Dean was struggling to shake off the nightmare. It made her wonder what sort of horror could effect him so strongly.

He rested his forehead against her thigh still taking in large breaths of air. His gun hand touching her other thigh.

She felt something for him in that moment, a kind of maternal instinct to ease his sufferings. Out of nowhere her hand found its way to gently stroking his hair and after a short while his heavy gasps of air eased, turning back into rhythmic breathing.

_Wait! Had he just fallen back asleep? Just Great!_

Melody was now stuck, sat on the bed with a 6ft killer half draped over her while her gun and phone remained at the table. Her only option was to use Dean's Colt. She reached to where his hand lay on her leg and tried to take it, but even in sleep Dean's grip remained strong. Some calming words managed to coerce the piece from his hold. An empty hand obviously didn't sit right with Dean because almost as soon as the weapon was free he grasped a handful of her shirt, pulling her close.

Not long after Melody heard the door rattle and she held the gun straight waiting for the intruder. The door swung open and Sam stood in the entrance.

There was obvious confusion in his expression at finding them both sat on the bed. And the last thing Melody wanted was for Mr Tall, Dark and incredibly sexy seeing her in a compromising position with his older brother.

_Damn it!_

"He….he was having a nightmare" she weakly offered but then realised that wasn't why he was looking so confused.

Dean rarely showed weakness or vulnerability even in front of his brother. Seeing him laid there , gripping Melody tight was something Sam had not witnessed before. He'd never witnessed it because he knew Dean would not want Sammy to see him like that.

Sam looked over at Melody

"I'm just going to leave for a minute….to get something from the vending machine. You're gonna want to wake him up while I'm gone" he said and Melody read between the lines. Pretend Sam's entrance had never happened.

Dean was up and re-boiling water for coffee by the time Sam returned. It was almost comical the way all three of them refused to acknowledge anything had happened just a few minutes earlier. But Melody was fine with that. Her thoughts were with Libby and if Sam was standing in front of them, then who was looking after her cousin.

"Ok, give us the news" Dean prompted his brother, as he sipped the strong drink, offering another cup to Melody.

"You're going to need to come back to the hospital now!"

"Why!" Dean and Melody both replied together, panic clear in both their voices.

Sammy gave his brother a knowing look as he replied.

"Because Cas has just turned up".


	9. Chapter 9

The brothers could barely keep up with the tall brunette who was practically running down the hospital corridor towards her cousins room

"Libby, Thank God you're awake" Melody cried as she ran to her cousins bedside.

The blonde, was still lying flat, still pale and battered but her eyes were open and she followed movement around the room.

"I thought I had lost you, I didn't know what I was going to do" Melody continued unable to keep her tears back for the second time in 24 hours. At least this time they were tears of relief.

Although the scene was touching the boys were more interested in their trench coat wearing friend who was stood looking out of the window.

"What did you do Cas?" the concern clear in Dean's tone. They were trying to keep a low profile. The last thing they needed was some big Angelic act drawing attention their way.

Castiel turned around, that slightly confused expression he seemed to always possess fixed firmly on his face.

"A minor miracle nothing too noteworthy I assure you" he began

"I heard your prayers and it brought me here, you two have very similar energies and it surprised me when I heard _both_ of you praying for this young girl" he said looking between Dean and Melody.

Dean turned to glance at Melody and could see the surprised gratitude in her eyes staring back at him. It was no big deal. He was known to pray on occasion. This had been one of those times simply because seeing Libby at deaths door and how it was killing Melody broke his heart. But she hadn't needed to know that.

_Damn it Cas!_

"I'm sorry to interrupt but I don't understand what is going on here. What did you do to Libby? And how can you hear my prayers?" Melody had asked approaching Castiel. Dean could tell they were just a couple of maybe a hundred questions she wanted to ask.

"I healed your cousin's spine. She was never in danger of dying but would have been paralysed if I hadn't helped, it was minimal." Castiel replied and saw that the brunette was still waiting for an answer to her second question.

"Well the reason I can hear your prayers is because I am an angel of the Lord." Castiel simply put then let that information sink in.

Dean watched Melody laugh at the idea then turn to Libby motioning that the guy was probably crazy. She sat down next to her cousin's bed and Dean could almost see the cogs in her brain trying to make sense of everything.

This world she was living in just became a whole lot bigger. If demons existed then it would make sense that so did angels.

"Angels! …..Angels are real?" Melody asked the boys, her eyes wide with a kind of wonder.

"Yeah, but don't get excited most of them are dicks" Dean replied harshly but Melody wasn't listening, she stood and launched herself at Castiel throwing her arms around him expelling waves of gratitude for healing Libby.

Castiel stood a little awkwardly not quite sure how to react to Melody's attention, but Dean could see the smallest of smiles on his face.

Melody turned round to face the boys.

"So Angels and Demons, Heaven and Hell" she stated, still putting together the pieces.

"All those stories we've heard about you are true, aren't they?". The boys nodded sadly

"Even the really crazy ones?" she added. The brothers couldn't be sure what stories the girls may have heard but they presumed they included, trips to hell, meeting Lucifer and battles with Horsemen.

Again they nodded letting Melody think that through for a while and slowly begin to accept what she had been told. Finally she looked up at Dean with one final question

"Did you really sleep with a mermaid?"

Dean stepped back, totally thrown by the question. That was certainly not one of the crazy stories he had heard before.

"I…er…no I didn't do that" he answered, then paused looking at Sam

"Did I?" Sam smirked at the whole idea. Some weird stuff had happened to them over the years but as of yet, no mermaids.

With Libby's health out of immediate danger it was time to address the plan for this damn demon.

"I think we're past you trying to do this on your own" Sam said looking at the girls.

"You said that the demon found you because of us. So now it's time we returned the favour. Libby! the clothes you wore when it attacked you. Are they still around?"

Libby slowly pulled herself slightly up in the bed and looked over to Sam.

"Yeah, not much left of them, but they're in a drawer over there" she croaked

"Right, we'll see if we can get some DNA from the demon's vessel and then we are going to summon this thing _tonight!_"

Libby started to pull herself further up in the bed in an attempt to climb out. It was a stupid move. She was so dizzy and weak.

"Whoa, whoa, where do you think you are going?" Dean said looking at the blonde's feeble attempt to leave the bed.

"I'm getting ready for tonight." her voice was little more than a whisper

"Like hell you are. This nearly ended you when you were at full fitness, right now the monster could probably kill you just by blowing you down" The elder Winchester warned.

"You can't stop me" she croaked and in turn fueled a commanding tone from Dean

"Listen sweetheart, you are riding the pine on this one, even if I have to tie you to that damn bed"

"I think he's right Lib, I know how important this is but I'd rather have you alive at the end of it all" Melody said finding herself standing shoulder to shoulder with the Winchesters.

"Hey, don't think that you are coming either" Dean said realising Melody was putting herself forward for the hunt.

"What!" Both Melody and Sam said together

"Dude we need all the help we can get. Melody is pretty handy in a fight, why don't you want to bring her along?" Sam asked a little confused by Dean's decision.

Dean could feel the steady stare of both his brother and Melody while he struggled to produce an answer. The truth was that the girl was starting to fog things up, but he wasn't about to admit that, even to himself.

"I just think we will have enough with me, you and Cas" he eventually replied but was cut short by the angel.

"Um guys, I'm not sure if I will be available. There seems to be a lot of unrest coming over angel radio. I fear my brothers and sisters require my assistance" Castiel said looking sorry for having to bail

"So I'm back in" Melody commented then left the boys to sit with her cousin before any more objections could be said.

Sam had been looking at Dean strangely for a good couple of minutes. He hadn't noticed certain events that Sam had picked up on, but he was about to find out what his brother had deduced from them.

Firstly there was the over-reaction to Melody wanting to join the hunt.

Then there was that scene Sam had walked in on, of them together on the bed at the motel room.

There was the awkward atmosphere when Sam first arrived at the hospital

And lastly there was that look Dean got whenever Melody Graves called on the phone.

Sam asked his question

"Hey. Is there something going on between you two?"

"What!….No!" Dean almost coughed out the reply as though it was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard.

"Ok…So do you have a thing for her?"

"Nope!" Dean couldn't help but swallow hard before he answered.

There were two things Dean knew how to do better than kill monsters. One was lie to his brother and the other was lie to himself.

Sam held eye contact searching for the truth before finally replying

"Good" that one word weighted heavy with a hundred cautions.

To summarise it meant 'Good because between the Winchesters, every woman they had ever got involved with either died or had their lives ruined and in turn it left them with heartache worse than any physical pain they'd endured'.

Dean shook away the thoughts and got his head back in the game.

"Ok let's get this plan sorted out" he directed inviting Castiel to listen, hoping that maybe he might be able to join them at some point.

* * *

The demon stood central to the room where Libby nearly met her end almost two days earlier. Blood still stained the floor and walls. When they first arrived Melody struggled to contain the shakes throughout her body as she remembered the carnage and pain she and her cousin had experienced.

But the farm-house was abandoned and quiet and the last place the demon had been seen. So it was a good a place as any to do this thing.

She stood with her demon blade at the ready and it quickly became obvious that the monster didn't know Libby had survived.

"Melody Graves!. The last one standing. Don't worry it wont be long before you see your cousin and aunt again" it threatened and she gripped the knife a little firmer.

The demon noticed that she couldn't quite look it in the eyes and it gave a wicked cackle.

"Still? after all this time? It upsets you that I choose Roscoe as my meat suit." You're doting high school boyfriend, the one you gave your virginity to. He's still in here you know, He'll be able to feel everything I'm about to do to you"

Melody stood solidly trying to hold on to the anger that was rising inside her. But the demon could see the taunting was working and laughed even more.

"Do you really think I believe you came here alone. I can feel the other presence in the room" It said looking through the darkness. It was then that Sam and Dean stepped out of the shadows and caused the demon to step back slightly.

"Winchesters! I see you brought the big guns" it said laughing nervously.

"Well, I want this to end tonight so I got some help" Melody said and leaped forward making her move towards the monster. She managed to get a cut in and heard the demon yell in pain but it was no more than a graze. She was then thrown back against the wall.

"Mel!" Dean called out, real panic sounding in his voice but before the boys could advance on the demon they heard a familiar sound of invisible snarling.

'_Hell Hounds'_

"You didn't think _I _came here alone either did you?" the demon pronounced evilly then everything just became a bloody mêlée.

Melody couldn't see much in the darkness but her hearing was perfectly fine. Rabid growls followed by shots from Dean's sawn-off filled the room. She managed to find her feet and re-engage in the fight.

Everything happened so quickly. Before long the demon had her pinned to the floor. The dogs were dead and just like her Aunt it had pinned Sam and Dean against the wall watching. She could hear the brothers shout and yell at the demon to let her go but she knew that wasn't going to happen.

This was the end. Melody had walked into the house knowing she would either succeed or die trying. Now she was accepting that it would be the latter. But the monster that donned the appearance of her first love would not leave unscathed. She and the boys had managed to inflict a fair amount of damage and she hoped that once she was gone the brothers could finish the job.

Just as it was all about to end a figure appeared in the room, pulling the demon to its feet. She looked up to see Castiel place a hand on its forehead. Melody didn't know what to expect next but knew Angels were known to 'smite' and she braced herself for something special. But nothing came, instead he stood there with the surprised looking demon, then uttered a single word in a calm gravely tone.

"Now!"

The demon jerked forward and Melody heard the knife slice into it's back, it turned slightly to see its attacker and she saw Libby stood there with a bloody knife. She still looked physically weak but determination burned in her eyes.

Libby buried the knife in again. This time in the chest as it had turned to face her. She forced it in further holding the hilt tightly and keeping her eye contact with the thing as it screamed and slowly checked out.

Melody could only look on from the floor. Fearless. Her cousin was completely fearless.

She knew the demon had been extinguished when Sam and Dean were free of the force keeping them at the wall.

The brothers ran over as Libby fell to her knees. All the strength she had was gone. Melody could feel herself be pulled into those safe arms of Dean's just as she watched Sam go to her cousin and do the same.

Dean tried to comfort Melody, feeling her over for severe injuries and just generally checking she was ok, but it was all muffled to her. All her concentration was being used communicating silently with her cousin across the room.

It was over. They had done it. And it was all kind of overwhelming.


	10. Chapter 10

Melody sat in the back of the Impala staring at the dark silhouetted trees that whipped past the window. The four of them minus one angel drove towards a hotel. Apparently it was common practise for Castiel to drop by unexpectedly and disappear just as quick.

She squeezed her eyes closed for a moment trying to calm the growing dread inside her. The brunette had felt shaky and anxious ever since they left what was left of the demon back at the farmhouse. She was simply struggling to process what they had achieved just a few hours earlier, but more importantly what it meant for the future. For the first time in almost a decade she was lost. So completely lost it scared her stupid.

It seemed her cousin did not have the same problem. Whatever Castiel had done to Libby was a mystery but the small blonde hadn't stopped talking since they had got into the car.

"I just can't believe it's all over. How long have we been doing this now? Finally we can go home." Libby began and all Melody could manage was a nod of the head and a shrug of the shoulders. The brunette hadn't spoken since they had killed the demon

"God Melody, just think, tomorrow we will be out of this world of monsters and evil and can finally decide what to do with the rest of our lives just like we said we would"

At that comment Melody glanced up and caught Dean staring at her in the rear view mirror. She couldn't place his expression. His eyes had a little sadness in them, but surely he must be relieved. How many times had he tried to get the two of them to go back and live a regular life?

The nine storey hotel finally came into view a few hundred yards ahead. The exterior lighting gave the building extra grandeur against the dark night sky and was a far cry from where the brothers were used to staying. Their journey was almost at an end and Melody couldn't stop the agitated feeling inside her.

_How was she supposed to sleep feeling this way?_

Walking behind the trio into the vast lobby she felt an itch that she didn't want to scratch. The itch was _'what the hell was she going to do with the rest of her life'_

Where was she going to live? Would she go to college? Did she go and find a job? Would she and Libby go separate ways and would she be able to live on her own? How does she even go about answering some of those questions?

Panic was rising while she watched Dean approach the receptionist. God, she needed a distraction.

In the past Melody had dealt with these kind of problems with drugs. In fact she had been places much darker with more shady people during that time than she'd ever experienced in her life as a hunter. It wasn't a place she wanted to revisit.

Libby was leaning against the solid frame of the younger Winchester. It seemed the girl had finally burnt out. Melody was pretty certain that her cousin would have no problem falling asleep.

She watched Sam place a protective arm around Libby whose eyes were struggling to stay open. He was a good guy. Strong and tough but still had a sensitive side. Melody couldn't help herself give him the once over and admire his good qualities. He'd always been her type. Tall, intelligent, gorgeous. Sam Winchester would make one hell of a distraction right about now. He could easily stop her panicking about what her new life would be even if it was just for a few hours.

"Hey! here's the first key card. Why don't you take the girls up to their room and I'll follow when I have ours" Dean said to his brother, handing over the white plastic key and bringing Melody swiftly out of the mischievous little daydream forming in her head.

Sam disappeared with Libby towards the elevators and thankfully out of Melody's mind. She'd only end up falling in love with the guy anyway.

Her distraction needed to be more ephemeral. Fast and meaningless. Something that would divert her just long enough until she was too worn-out to think. She needed….

"Hey! Mel are you ok?"

Talk about timing. It was a light bulb moment for Melody as Dean stood in front of her waiting on an answer to his question. But her head was suddenly filled with so many thoughts she wasn't even sure of the question he'd just asked.

She nodded hoping that would be sufficient

"I thought you were going up to the room with Libby and Sam" he added but then was called back by the receptionist to complete some paperwork before she could comment.

Melody stared at the back of the older brother as he leaned over the reception desk. Dean Winchester! The surly one. The one who commanded and shouted. He was angry and mean and liked to act first and think later.

He was exactly what Melody needed and to top it off he was hot as hell.

She felt her cheeks burn as the memory back at the hospital suddenly came to her. Melody could still taste his lips from that stolen kiss and the feel of his arms wrapped around her.

_Holy crap! This idea wasn't going away. What was she going to do?_

Her feet quickly found the hotel bar across the far side of the lobby. It was dark and she presumed at such a late time the lone bartender was just cleaning up before his shift ended, but after a little gentle persuasion Melody found her self with a nice line of vodka shots.

She was one shot down when Dean found her.

"Mel! Are you sure you are ok?" that gravelly tone sent a shiver down her spine. As she looked round to face him.

"I'm fine" she replied, her voice almost hoarse. It was the first thing she had said out loud since leaving the dead demon. She swallowed down the second glass.

"So What's with you main-lining vodka?" he asked with concern.

Her feet found themselves stepping closer to the 6ft predator. Her heart beginning to thump hard as she considered her reply.

"Courage!" came her answer and she swallowed down the third shot

"Courage for what?!"

Melody's hand slowly reached out for the collar on his shirt. She prayed he couldn't see it shake as she took hold and pulled him down the short distance to meet her eyes.

"Courage to make the first move"

Her lips met his with more meaningful intent than the last time she kissed him. His mouth was burning hot and Melody could feel a drop in her stomach at being so close to him.

"Mel, this really, really, really is not a good idea" his words came out throaty, his eyes all the while fixed upon her lips.

Melody pulled away the slightest bit. He was probably right. She was looking for a short fix to a big problem. By morning Melody would be right back where she started, worrying about the future.

But two things were stopping her from walking away at that moment. One was the strong hardened hand that had found its way under her shirt to the bare skin at the small of her back, pulling her closer into him.

The other reason was that when she had pressed her lips to his, Dean had kissed her back so completely it made her whole body feel weak.

_Yeah…She wasn't going anywhere_.

Melody needed this and she had to make him understand that. She looked into his eyes realising for the first time that they were green. Unmistakably so. How had she never noticed that before?

"I'm scared Dean" Melody whispered, he knew she was talking about starting a new life. She could see the understanding in his eyes.

"I just need one night where I don't have to think about it all" she said, feeling his fingers on her back grip her a little tighter making her feel almost breathless.

"In the morning I'll be out of your life forever. Do you think you can just give me what I need, just for one night?" she almost whispered

Dean's eyes lifted to meet hers for a moment before resting back on her lips. It took less than a second for him to decide as he crashed his mouth against hers. Who was he to deny a last request.

Melody could feel 'need' rising as they embraced. Her hand found its way to the back pocket of his jeans and she found the second key card. She forced herself away from his hold long enough to guide him towards the elevators and up to the room.

Pulling him through the door of the room, her fingers once again found the collar of his shirt. It was more of a jacket really. She pushed it off his back to reveal another shirt underneath. Melody couldn't help the little growl of frustration she let out.

"You know what? You wear too many clothes" she snarled, then kicked the door closed and disappeared into the room.

* * *

Melody woke up feeling sunlight on her face. Morning rays beamed through the gap in the curtains sending heavenly streams across the room. She was naked and she was alone.

The bedside clock ticked over showing it to be just after 10.30. She wrapped the bed sheet further around herself recalling all that had happened.

The night had been a success. She could honestly say there hadn't been a single moment when her thoughts had strayed towards her unknown future. But now in the cold light of day she felt strange. It took her a minute to recognised the feeling. With Dean gone Melody felt sad and a little used.

It was supposed to have just been sex. Both of them had been clear on that. Just a diversion to get her through the night.

It had started out that way. Melody had made sure of it. Once they had got into the bedroom and she had removed the majority of his clothes, she had pushed him to the bed. Those damn layers he always wore had done a good job hiding what was underneath. He had one hell of a decent body and she set to work on him good and proper even managing to pull her name achingly from his lips at one point.

But somewhere in the middle, things changed. Her control had gone and Dean started making the rules.

Sat upright in the empty bed Melody felt heat rising back through her body just remembering what had gone down in the night.

She could still feel those hot soft lips trace down her body as she laid on the bed. The feel of his stubble brushed against her skin sending goose bumps right across her flesh. He had started at her shoulder, her chest, her stomach, moving lower still.

There had been a point on her hip that caused her to moan making him give the place some special attention, he seemed to have enjoyed her reactions.

Melody moved away the bed sheet to see the mark he had left on her hip. A love bite, a hickey.

There was purpose to every touch he made. Melody was left breathless while he made his moves. They weren't fast and hard, mean or angry as they should have been, but something else entirely. They were deep and feverish. The guy was good, very good at what he did and the two of them seem to just fit right.

It was just like when you hold a gun in your hand and the weight and grip feels like it was made for you, That was how Dean felt to Melody. The weight of his body pressed against hers and the pressure of his lips as he kissed her, just felt so right.

Back in that hotel lobby at the beginning of the night, Melody had dismissed the idea of one brother fearing she might fall in love and opted for the safer option only to find herself in the exact situation she didn't want to be in.

Dean Winchester had made her feel things she hadn't wanted to and now he was gone forever.

Melody threw the sheets off the bed letting cool air to her body that was now burning up remembering their time together. The bedside clock continued to tick over reminding her that time was forcing her into a new life.

It was supposed to be a clean start. No boxes left open and especially no hearts.

She picked up that damn ticking clock and threw it across the room.

"Son of a bitch"


	11. Chapter 11

**Just a quick thank you to all those who have taken the time to read or review this story. It is greatly appreciated and more comments are always welcome. Thanks again**

* * *

Sam stepped out into the corridor closing the bedroom door behind him. Brushing hair away from his face, he turned to see his brother sat on the floor leaning against the door of the adjacent room. Dean's head was in his hands and took him a good few moments to notice Sam standing there.

They exchanged a look that told Sam everything he needed to know. He knew his brother a little too well.

When Melody hadn't followed her cousin to the bedroom the evening before, Sam had gone back down to check everything was ok as soon as Libby had crashed out on the bed.

He'd had the unfortunate timing to catch Melody and Dean in the hotel bar and knew at that point that he would have to find an alternative place to sleep.

Looking down at his brother sat on the floor he held out a hand to pull the weary guy to his feet. Dean did not possess that twinkle in his eye, that cocky smirk, or that 'cat got the cream' look he usually had after a night with a beautiful woman

Instead anguish was written across his face. Dean had let this girl in. Sam could see it so clearly which only meant one thing. Between the two of them, they had lost almost everyone they've ever cared about. The pain carried around with them was unbearable, and Dean had added another name to the list of potential heartbreak

"Did you at least say goodbye to her?" Sam asked. Dean just shook his head with shame.

He had gone up to that room for just a few hours of fun. But somewhere in the middle the girl had bewitched him.

Her feisty exterior he'd been attracted to had turned out to be an act. She played it very well, but as they lay in bed together he could see her nervousness, saw how her hands shook and she just looked so damn vulnerable. Some of that armour Dean built around his heart had just melted right through.

Dean had considered saying goodbye. He'd laid next to Melody while she slept debating whether to wake her for one last kiss. To wish her luck for the future. But in the end he decided against it. It seemed easier do leave her be.

"Probably for the best" Sam replied

It sounded like a harsh comment but it was safer for Melody to not get entangled any further with the Winchesters. She would have a chance at a better life if she never spoke to them again.

Dean pulled out the car keys and threw them at Sam.

"Come on lets blow this joint, you're driving".

* * *

**One year later**

The brothers stood deep underground at a disused subway station. They were in the middle of another mission to save the world but had temporarily put it all on hold to help out Garth on a case. Their gawky fellow hunter was struggling to gank a scuttling monster that had managed to frighten away even the rats.

The habitual hugger could tell his case was a well needed rest from their current long term assignment. He had been listening to Sam and Dean's constant fractious remarks ever since they showed up. They were brothers and they loved each other but Garth could tell this was on of those times when the boys just really wanted to hit each other in the face.

In the middle of disagreeing on what the actual monster could be, Garth's phone rang and he stepped away to answer leaving the boys still growling in the background.

"Hi, yeah I've got time to talk…..tell me what you know so far?…..and how long has it been happening?… ok! Well Melody it's sounds to me that you've got yourself a Wraith. What you'll need to do is….." The phone was whipped away from his ear and Garth turned to see it in Dean's hand.

The scowl was deep on the brother's face as he held the receiver towards Garth.

"Is it Melody Graves on this phone?" he asked and watched Garth nod, totally confused to what was going on.

Dean slowly put the receiver to his ear.

"Mel?" the was a pause at the other end which Dean took to mean she recognised his voice.

"Hey Dean" came her short dispassionate reply

"What the hell are you doing?" his words came out scarily calm but had a clear darkness about them.

He hadn't contacted Melody or Libby in the whole of the twelve months since they last saw each other. He just didn't want to complicate things.

Curiosity had got the better of him just the one time when he conceded and asked Sam if he'd heard from the girls. Sam had managed to speak to Libby and discovered that they had both returned to their home town.

Libby had gone back to college and Melody was working in a bakery. Knowing they were both alive and safe had been all Dean needed to know.

"I'm doing a job, don't worry about it" Melody replied and being told that she was working a case was the last thing Dean wanted to hear.

"Tell me where this job of yours is?" His calm was still in tact but now he had to screw his eyes closed in order to keep it that way.

"Look I'd don't have time to chat at the moment, maybe we can talk later…."

"Mel! Tell me where the hell you are now! or I'm going to beat the information out of Garth" the calm tone had well and truly gone.

There was quiet on the other end of the phone and Dean was starting to worry that she was not ok.

"Don't….don't beat up Garth…..I've….I've got to go…." She hung up, Dean was sure now something didn't sound right.

"Mel! Mel! Just freaking awesome" Dean yelled almost throwing the phone across the subway station then remembering it wasn't his to throw.

He rounded on his skinny colleague.

"She's in Preston about 30 miles North of here" Garth blurted fearful of the impending threat of violence.

"Is Libby with her?"

Garth shook his head.

"You let her go out on her own to fight a Wraith?" the boom echoed through the arched tunnels.

"Well I didn't know it was a Wraith until she described it just now, at which point I was about to suggest she hangs back and waits for backup but you just happened to yank the phone away from me". Garth stepped forward and shouted back at the oldest Winchester.

Dean took a deep breath trying to step back from the edge of his anger and looked to Sam for help. The girl he had tried not to think about for a year was fighting a Wraith on her own. He needed to go and help her but didn't want to leave his brother.

"Me and Garth have this covered here. Go and help her out" Sam permitted knowing that Melody's immediate safety outweighed any romantic complications that might later arise.

* * *

Melody had shut herself into a back room at the community centre. A Wraith! Garth had said ._What the hell was one of those? _

She pulled out her phone and searched the internet for any information she could get on the creature. Her head felt a little heavy as she stared at the screen. Hallucinations! It had the ability to make her imagine things.

Some part of her brain was telling her that she had already been affected. She felt dizzy and had imagined speaking to Dean on the phone.

Her eyes couldn't seem to focus on the information anymore. She looked up and thought she saw Libby standing at the door for a moment.

_This was not good!_

Her hands gripped the table for balance as she tried to stay calm and clear her head. But there wasn't enough time. The door was kicked open and a woman who Melody quickly realised was the Wraith came walking into the room.

Melody wasn't about to give her self up to this bitch. She moved across the room throwing chairs and other furniture in the way of the monster. But it was no use, she felt drugged and it wasn't long before the wraith got the upper hand and pounced on Melody.

She punched and kicked and made it hard for the creature to get a hold. It was a good effort but the wraith was stronger and eventually it had Melody pinned to a table. She watched helplessly as a strange spike began to grow out of the woman's wrist, it was getting closer to Melody's head and she writhed to get out of its reach.

There was a crash at the far end of the room, Melody looked over and could see Dean standing there. Her brain wouldn't accept that it was actually him. It must just be another hallucination. She turned away from him focusing on her last struggle to keep the wraith away.

"Mel! Mel!" he was shouting her name and pushing through fallen furniture to get close to her.

His voice caused her to look back at him for a moment. She saw something flash in his hand. A knife!

"Mel, silver!" he shouted then hurled the knife over to her. Melody caught it and felt its physical presence. It felt real and she swiftly hacked at the monsters spike. It screamed out in pain falling backwards closer to where Dean was. Melody watched as he leaped forward and stabbed the thing in the heart with his own silver dagger. At that point it was over. The monster was left dying on the floor.

Melody laid back on the table, exhausted and slowly starting to regain her focus and clear head. After a moment she tilted her face to see Dean still stood with the bloody knife in his hand.

"How…how did you find me?" she asked breathlessly.

Dean eyed her with annoyance

"That damned pink campervan is parked right outside".


	12. Chapter 12

The way out of the community centre was at the end of a narrow corridor from the room where they both still stood. Melody had caught her breath fully and was taking a moment to observe her rescuer. Dean stood and wiped blood from the blade he'd used to destroy the monster. He looked older, weary even. It had been a year since she'd last seen him and the best way to describe him standing there was battle worn.

There was talk around the other hunters that something big was going down and that's what was accounting for the surge of supernatural activity Melody had lately witnessed. She had never attached weight to the tales told. Hunters liked to embellish and hyperbolize a situation for dramatic effect.

Looking at Dean though, she began to wonder if there was truth in all the rumours. She had learned a while back that the Winchesters were usually at the centre of any 'big bad' going down and he certainly looked like he'd been put through the wringer a few times.

But apart from all that he still seemed the same. Strong ,dominating, in control and very irritable. Whatever apocalyptic case he was deep in, Dean had still come to help her, save her.

"You ready to go? he asked bending to grip what was left of the wraith and dragging it across the floor to a supply closet.

She nodded hauling herself off the table and helping to hide away the monster. There wasn't time to clean up properly. The community centre was well used and it wouldn't be long before a number of evening classes were due to begin.

The strenuous activity in moving the creature brought on a dizzy spell for Melody. Maybe the wraith's poison hadn't completely left her system. She tried to straighten up but ended up stumbling slightly as the room swayed around her.

Dean took hold of her arm steadying her, his brow knitted tight with concern. It took just a few seconds for her head to clear then she pushed Dean back, sending a little hostility his way.

The small show of aggression was unconsciously done. It seemed that even though he had just saved her life, Melody was still a little sore over the fact that she'd woken up alone in that hotel a year ago and never heard from him since.

"Thanks for the help but now I've got to go. I'll see you around" she blurted out and headed through of the door into the corridor.

She had managed to get about half way down when he called after her.

"Mel, we need to talk" he insisted and it made her stop and turn back for a moment.

"What could we possibly need to talk about, we haven't spoken to each other in over a year" she declared, immediately screwing her eyes closed regretting the statement.

_Damn it!, she sounded like a woman scorned. _

She was better than this. Stronger. She was sure that night meant nothing more to him than a one time hook-up. Which was exactly what she had begged him for in the hotel bar. Any feelings she had were her own and she needed to get control over them.

"We need to talk about what you were doing here tonight and why you aren't upstate somewhere making pies and baking cakes like you are supposed to be"

_He knew. How did he know about the bakery?_

"It's my life Dean, I can do what I want with it. Please don't concern yourself" she turned away once more and continued up the corridor.

* * *

Dean stood watching her walk away, a little shocked at her attitude. He was the one who was supposed to be angry with her, not the other way round. He left his brother and Garth alone on a case to save her ass because she was not living a nice normal life like she should have been.

"Just wait a minute will you?" Dean shouted, insistent that this wasn't the end of their conversation.

To his annoyance she ignored him and continued walking, forcing him to exert some energy and catch her fast pace.

He called out a couple more times but she kept on going. In the end Dean grabbed her wrist pulling her back forcefully. She fell into the wall and he held her against it until she quit trying to pull away.

He was stood close, much closer than he needed to be. All he wanted to do was shout at her. Tell how stupid she was for leaving what could be a good life and coming back to a world of almost certain death. He didn't understand it, didn't even _want_ to understand it.

But something changed standing that close to her. A scent suddenly hit him hard. It could have been her shampoo, soap or the faint float of perfume but Dean had spent so long surrounded by dirt, blood and sulphur, that her scent almost bowled him over.

His anger turned to desire and brought back the memory of that night in the hotel. Mechanically his hips bucked against hers. Her tall stature brought them almost inline with each other and reminded him of just how well they fit together.

The smallest intake of breaths from Melody brought him back to reality and made him realise just how close his own lips were to hers. He placed an outstretched arm to the wall close to her head, it acted as a barrier, ensuring he didn't get any closer than he already was. He was fairly sure that his arm there was the _only _thing stopping him from pressing his lips against hers.

The cold of the wall against his hand cleared his head a little and he remembered what he wanted to speak to her about.

"You were supposed to be the ones who listened" he said exhausted into the air that hung between them

Melody looked up puzzled as he continued

"Do you know how many times me and Sammy have told people to get out of this life?"

"Hundreds" he said answering his own question.

"And none of them ever listen. They end up dead or watch their families die and just spend the rest of their lives living in this hell hole" he added bitterly

"But you and Libby were supposed to be the ones who listened. The one's that gave me hope that we are not doomed to repeat the same crap" He continued still leaning into her as close as he could.

"Yet here you are, following in everyone else's footsteps"

He felt Melody put a hand to his chest causing him to stare into her apologetic eyes.

"I tried Dean. I went to work everyday. Had an apartment, dated a couple of guys but I just couldn't do it. I'd lay awake at night hearing noises and imagining all the demons and monsters running around unchecked, ruining lives. The only way I can get to sleep is to be out here stopping them. Making a difference." She said, her words growing with purpose as she spoke.

Dean couldn't deny that the strength and will of hers turned him on. She was so hot when she was being determined. He felt her shiver under him and realised that his other hand was brushing against her hip. Just over the place he'd left his mark on her skin that night they were together. He managed to drag his eyes away from her lips long enough to look at that place that he once kissed and made her moan his name. His thumb lightly ran across something there. Black writing. Studying it a little longer he made out that it was a tattoo. Two words inked in Latin.

_Nihil Timor. _

He took a step away from her, the heat that had slowly been building within him quickly diminishing .

"It means….."

"I know what it means Mel" Dean gruffly said

"It says something like 'Fearless' or 'No Fear' Right?. I had a weapon once with something similar engraved on it". Dean spoke, remembering 'The Colt' he and Sam were once in possession of.

"Why is it there? in that place?" Dean asked hesitantly, still rubbing his thumb over the words even though there was a little distance between them.

She hesitated to answer and Dean stepped back a little further afraid of what she was going to say

"I….I got it because it reminds me of you. You make me feel fearless. You make me feel safe"

His back was now well against the opposite wall of the corridor. He felt sick as her words registered in his brain.

'_You make me feel safe'_

Who had he ever managed to keep safe? Lisa and Ben? He led them into so much trouble that removing their memories was the only way to keep them alive. Ellen and Jo? They had followed him straight into their own deaths and Bobby….. Well, Bobby's loss was just too fresh to even start thinking about.

"I don't keep people safe. I just put them in harm's way" he said letting his words sink into Melody's head.

Melody stepped forward mystified by his comments.

"What do you mean you don't keep people safe? You saved my life just 10 minutes ago." she said with exasperation

"Yeah and you wouldn't have been here in the first place if it wasn't for me and Sammy" he argued back.

She shrugged her shoulders in confusion to what he was getting at.

"Do you really think you and Libby would still be hunting down monsters if your only contacts were Crazy Dave Marsh and ruthless George Palmer? You would have given it all up and never looked back a long time ago. Sam and me found you at that diner, offered you a little bit of kindness and now you've imagined there is some kind of connection between us. A connection that will end up getting you killed"

He forced himself to look her in the eye knowing that the return stare would probably make him feel like shit. But he needed to say it. He needed to push her away. Dean couldn't watch another person he cared about die under his watch. She needed to cut him loose and go back home to her apartment and her bakery.

"I can't make you feel safe, Mel. I can't make you feel fearless" he paused

"I won't" he added making clear his meaning

He waited there for an argument, a reaction, something from her. But nothing came, only silence. She was hurt , he could see it in her eyes but he didn't regret his efforts to push her away. If it allowed her to live a long happy life then he would never regret it.

Both heard a sudden clatter from the room they had come from. Their heads whipped round to that direction. They edged forward towards the noise. Dean pulling a revolver from around his back. He held an arm in front of Melody stopping her from advancing.

"Just stay put, I'll check it out" he said, silently creeping to the door and easing it an inch open to peer into the room.

A short older woman was inside the room cursing at the mess as she lifted chairs and turned them upright. Dean watched her for a minute seeing if she went near the closed supply closet. It wouldn't be long before she or someone else would find what was left of the dead wraith.

"Come on let's split" he whispered back to Melody behind him then turned to see her gone.

'_Damn it Melody ' _he mumbled to himself as he ran to the exit and out into the cool evening air. She couldn't have gone far in that short time. He walked around the building looking for her but she was nowhere to be seen.

As he got towards the Impala Dean suddenly heard a noise, a vicious growl. He turned to come face to face with a set of fangs that came straight at him. He lost his footing falling backwards with the weight of the fanged creature on top of him. Dean hit something hard.

Then everything just faded to black.


	13. Chapter 13 - Final Chapter

**This is the end of the story. I've never been great at writing long stories, so it may be short but at least it has an ending. Thanks once again to those who have read and reviewed and if you have the time please tell me what you thought**_._

* * *

_At least he was still breathing._

Melody had seen it happen. She had been leaning against the back of her VW camper van, hiding from Dean who was stood out back of the community centre searching for her. Then out of the shadows came a rather ugly-looking vampire and launched itself at the Winchester.

She watched Dean go down, any heroic retaliation was halted by the fact that he hit his head on the side of a park bench and was out cold. Reactions took over and Melody found herself pulling a machete from the van and running at the vampire, swinging straight for its head.

Now she had Dean slumped unconscious in the passenger seat of the camper and a headless vamp in the back. Her foot had the peddle to the metal and she sped down the dark roads towards Sam and Garth.

"At least he is still breathing" Melody quietly repeated while she drove.

It had been her fault all this had happened. If she hadn't run away, if she hadn't been at the community centre in the first place.

_Oh God, What if I've killed Dean Winchester?!_

The terrifying thought almost made her career off the road with panic. The sudden pull of the van jerked around its occupants and she heard Dean shift slightly.

"Hey!" the small word was barely audible but Melody heard it and it was the greatest sound in the world. Taking her eyes of the road for a moment she looked over and saw that he was awake. A look of pain flited across his face.

"…No…not the pink van!" he croaked then tried to sit up. Melody watched him struggle then saw the whites of his eyes as he passed out again.

She couldn't help but give a hysterical laugh. Did he really just use his one and only conscious moment to criticize her choice of vehicle again?

Sam and Garth were waiting outside the hospital. As she pulled up Sam helped carry his comatose brother from the van and into the ER. He didn't stop to talk or even look at Melody as he whipped Dean away into the care of hospital staff.

Melody was left in the waiting room staring at the now empty corridor the Winchesters had just disappeared down. She wiped hair away from her eyes and discovered her hands were shaking uncontrollably.

"He'll be fine you know" a voice said and made her jump. She turned to realise Garth was standing behind her.

"A bump to the head won't even make the list of injuries he has overcome, Melody"

She looked at Garth and was grateful of his attempts to ease her worry. But it wasn't working, she felt sick that it was her fault. Looking away Melody could feel her eyes start to well and she had to mentally pull herself together.

She was tough feisty Melody Graves. She would not fall apart for a guy who told her less than an hour earlier that she'd only _imagined_ a connection between them.

"So I hear you have a dead vamp to dispose of" Garth added causing her to smile gratefully. That was the perfect distraction she needed.

Travelling alone without her cousin, Melody generally found herself sleeping in the van at some convenient lay-by. It may not have seemed the wisest of ways for a single girl to spent her nights, but the arsenal of knives and guns hidden under the back seats meant that any would-be attacker would more than likely come off worse for wear .

Although the van saved on money Melody couldn't bring herself to sleep there when the essence of headless vamp still lingered, so after completing the monster clean up with Garth she found herself in a typical Winchester style motel.

Her eyes started to close while staring at old 'friends' reruns on the TV until a solid knock at the door startled her. She pulled out her revolver while climbing to her feet and crept to the door. Melody peered through the door hole to see Sam standing there.

Sam sat at the table while Melody offered him a beer. He took it thankfully and took a sip.

"I just came to check you were ok and let you know that Dean is fine, but they are keeping him overnight. He's pretty pissed off at having to stay in bed but medically he's ok" Sam sighed and Melody wondered if one of the reasons he had come by the motel was to get away from his brothers tetchy behaviour.

She felt the weight of guilt starting to lift from her shoulders at hearing the news.

Sam looked around the room as he drank down the beer, starting to frown at what he saw.

"So What's with this dive, I thought you preferred a better class of hotels?" he asked

"Convenience" Melody neatly replied.

The truth was she no longer had money. Her inherited wealth had been turned away. From turning eight years old Melody had wanted for nothing. But that money was earned by her aunt making a deal with a demon. It was dirty money and it had always made Melody feel sick to spend it. But Libby had convinced her to use it to avenge her Aunts death. Now that had been done, she had wiped her hands of the fortune.

"And why is Libby not with you?" Sam followed up noting that the girl's relationship had always seemed to be a lot like his and Dean's.

"She doesn't know I'm here" Melody answered.

Melody hadn't told her cousin she had gone back to hunting. Libby was out at college doing well for herself, even had a boyfriend who had a passing resemblence to a certain angel they all knew, but there was a strong possibility that if Melody had told the blonde then she would have dropped out and followed her across the country.

"She'll find out eventually" Sam warned, a fact Melody was well aware of, but she was determined that '_eventually_' would be as far away in the future as possible.

They chatted for a while longer, Melody easing into the conversation once realising that the tall, handsome brother did not hold her responsible for Dean's injuries. He told her that they were staying in town a little longer and taking a closer look at the community centre. A vampire and a wraith at the same location at the same time was strange and they wandered if it all was linked to the big case he and Dean were working on.

Melody on the other hand would not be sticking around. She'd received a call for help from a hunter back east and she had agreed to go at her earliest convenience.

Sam took his cue to leave after watching the brunette's eyelids grow heavy the longer they chatted.

"You look after yourself Melody and make sure you stay in touch" he finished and she somehow managed to find enough energy to see him to the door before she passed out on the bed.

Within no time that dream came. She welcomed the colours that always calmed her but for the first time all the vague blurs started to form and focus. The pinks became lips, lips that she had kissed, the green's became eyes and the feeling of safety were those strong arms of Dean's that had once wrapped around her.

She awoke with a start. Her dream, it was Dean. She had been dreaming of him all this time. Whenever she felt overwhelmed or anxious that dream had come and all the time it was Dean that had calmed her through sleep, made her feel safe. But wait! that couldn't be right. She'd had that dream long before ever meeting the Winchesters for the first time in that diner. After lying awake for a while trying to make sense of it all, she decided it was time to get up before it drove her crazy.

Her body was stiff and it took some effort to get out of bed. The previous day had been one hell of a workout. Battling wraith and vampires, manhandling large unconscious fighters into vans and disposing of dead monsters, really pulled on the muscles.

After stretching out a little, Melody took on the task of cleaning out the van of any trace left of the headless beast. Every ache of her body served as a reminder to how unfit she had become. With that in mind and seeing that the new day was still only thinking about starting she decided to go for a run.

The rhythmic pounding of pavement beneath her feet had in the past acted as a way to clear her mind, but for some reason that wasn't happening this time. Instead she found Dean once again forcing his way in to her thoughts with every thump of her street bound sneakers.

It had hurt when he said there was no connection between them. Melody wished it hadn't hurt, she wished she didn't care… but she did.

Hunting evil beings required a lot of courage and mental strength. Melody didn't have that kind of stuff inbuilt. She needed to find it from somewhere every time she walked into an abandoned warehouse or haunted house.

For a long time just the necessity to get revenge on her Aunt's killer provided her with the strength needed, but over time she found that wasn't enough.

She began to use Dean as a kind of rock. A tower of strength that helped her focus on her role as a hunter. Her 'fearless' tattoo was like a talisman. Just having it there, always with her made her believe she had Dean's strength with her too. And now after the dream she realised she was using him for courage even unconsciously.

'_You've imagined there is some kind of connection between us'_

His words back in the community seem to be engraved in her mind. Had she really just imagined it. It certainly hadn't felt that way when he'd held her against the wall in that corridor. When he pressed his body against hers. There was something there, she was sure of it.

Melody's breaths started to quicken as her feet persisted to thump against asphalt and her mind continued its analysis.

Maybe he was scared? That thought made her laugh out loud. She wasn't sure he was capable of being scared.

But she remembered the feeling of driving the unconscious Winchester to the hospital. The idea of losing him hurt. It was down right painful. It had been that moment she realised Dean had become more than a talisman to her. She had fallen for him. And even the most novice of hunters knew that those kind of emotions never led anywhere good.

So maybe that was it. Fear of letting someone in and caring for them. Maybe he was pushing her away to save them both from something that just couldn't work.

Sprinting the last couple of streets, Melody's run finally came to an end as the sun had found its way above the surrounding buildings. She was severely out of breath and decided that the run may have not been the best of ideas. Her hands dropped to her knees, which felt like jelly and her head fell low as she swallowed back huge gulps of air.

Standing in the parking lot, back at the motel, almost ready to collapse she looked up at the right side of her pink camper van. She loved that ride. It had been a gift. The last one from her high school boyfriend before he was taken and used as a vessel for the satanic monster within. His older sister had gone off to college and the thing had just been sat in storage so it was given to Melody. She loved it because it forced her to remember the good events from her first love and not the image of his invaded body ripping apart her aunt.

Straightening up and standing tall she walked around the back of the van. She turned the corner and came face to face with the man who wouldn't leave her head.

Dean was leaning leisurely against the left side of her van. Long legs stretched out, boots crossed over. He sipped coffee and held what looked like a bear claw. He looked good, very good in fact.

She took a step towards him and watched as he pulled himself off the camper to face her. He gave her the once over with his eyes at which point she realised what a state she must look. All sweaty and dishevelled after her run. The picture of health and fitness she was not. Libby would have never found herself in this situation. She always looked beautiful and perfect.

Upon stepping closer however she saw that his study of her was not one of shock or dismay but something else entirely. Something that filled her stomach with butterflies and made her already hot skin burn even more.

How could he possibly look at her in that way. Her face was so flushed and sweat beaded down her forehead and across her chest. Then she realised. The last time Dean had seen her anywhere near to being so over-exerted was the night they had spent together.

And he had been the one who had made her look that way.

Holy Crap she was about to spontaneously combust if she didn't find a way to cool down fast.

She took steps to move her jelly legs passed Dean and into the motel room. First stop was the bathroom where she forced her wrists under the cold water then cupped handfuls of it, splashing it across her face and neck.

"What is it you want Dean?" she asked a little more aggressively than intended. Her inability to get control over her body temperature was starting to aggravate her.

"I just wanted to check you were ok and thank you for saving my life last night" he replied. His eyes fixed on her rapidly rising chest that just illustrated how her pulse had still to return to resting rate.

"Sam checked on me last night and you needn't thank me, you wouldn't have been there in the first place if it hadn't been for me" she replied using a towel to dry off the cold water on her face.

Somehow he was once again stood close in front of her. Within the bounds of personal space. She had to wonder if this was how they would always talk to each other now. It certainly didn't feel like the actions of someone that claimed a connection was only imaginary.

She needed to ask him for the truth.

"I know that being a hunter is not a job but a way of life. It comes first always. Anything else just gets in the way. You can't make promises to another person because you don't know if you'll be alive long enough to be able to keep them. I get all that". She said and could feel Dean's body language start to change. He was ready to bail on the conversation, so she needed to get her words out quick.

"But you and me…" she paused to look up into his green eyes

"We are totally hot for each other, whatever wall we both erected to stop his happening has failed us, because you have let me in and I have done the same" she said and watched Dean shake his head trying to deny her words.

"Don't do this Mel" he begged

"You can't imagine how much it hurts when you lose everyone you care about". he added.

Melody looked away for a moment. How could he say that? She had lost her first love and watched as he went on to kill the only parental figure she'd ever known. She more than understood about the pain.

"The pain is a reminder that we are human Dean, yeah, sometimes it feels unbearable, but it's what separates us from these monsters we are fighting"

He was shaking his head, He'd heard all the arguments before and was unwilling to accept what she was saying

"I'm not asking for us to shack up together Dean, I'm not planning on joining you and your brother on the road. We have our own lives. Most of the time we will be a hundred miles away from each other.

I just thought it would be nice to accept and admit the way we feel and to be there for each other. Nothing big, maybe the occasional phone call, send each other a text from time to time, maybe a hot make out session once a year or sex in the car" she suggested with a cheeky smile.

She watched him take all the information in. His eyes cast down, letting the ideas settle. But in the end he went back to shaking his head.

"I can't do it Mel, I'm sorry"

Melody stepped away, a wave of sadness passing throughout her body. The pain of loss they had just discussed threatened to invade her heart and her shoulders slumped forward with disappointment. Her time as a hunter would be a lonely one, she had hoped that having Dean in her life, even if only occasionally would keep her company but it was not to be.

She would still have her tattoo to give her courage and the memories of the night in the hotel and that would just have to do. He walked out of the door and Melody couldn't even bring herself to say goodbye.

* * *

Dean drove on autopilot. He looked out of the windscreen having no recollection of how he managed to get to the tree-lined road he found himself on.

To say that he was distracted was an understatement. _He had done the right thing. _That was what he was telling himself over and over. It could never work, it would end badly. He wanted to believe all that so much, so why were his hands fixed on the wheel ready to make a one-eighty at any given moment.

He continued on the road to meet Sam. That's what he needed to concentrate on. Working together with his brother. Fighting demons and saving the world. Stuff he knew how to do.

Maybe the radio would help ease his mind and he reached for the knob turning it on. AC/DC filtered through the car. It had been a while since he had heard the song. It gave him a strange feeling. He couldn't quite place it but it forced him to think back and recall a memory. He was sat in a bar feeling sorry for himself and there had been a girl.

Dean pulled the car over. This memory was from so long ago, he struggled to recall it. So much had happened in his life since then. But he remembered the girl. He remembered watching her, initially worried that she needed help but then watching as she tore an unwanted suitor a new one.

As he went to leave their eyes briefly met. Just a moment or two but it was enough to forge a connection. He had lied to her and to himself. There had been a real connection between them even before he knew who she was.

She was tall, she was strong, she was sexy. She was Melody Graves! His Melody Graves!

The steering wheel was already on full lock as he shifted the Impala back in the direction he had just come from.

He knocked impatiently on the motel door feeling surprisingly calm. He was at his best when winging it. Act first, face the consequences later. It's how he and Sam lived their lives.

She opened the door genuinely shocked to see him standing there. Dean as good as pushed her inside eager to get his thoughts out.

"We've met before" he stated looking at the truly beautiful woman stood in front of him.

"Before what?" she asked looking confused to what was going on

"Before the diner. We kind of met in a bar. You were being chatted up by a loser wearing too much denim" he said and watched her think about that for a moment.

She did remember, vaguely. It had taken a while to realise that the guy she thought was leering at her was in fact watching over her. Dean had his sights set on the creepy guys over at the pool table making sure they didn't cause her or Libby any trouble. Even back then he'd been trying to keep her safe.

That's when her dreams had started. Right after that night. She had watched him leave the bar and look over. She had caught is green eyes staring into hers and saw those pink lips as he offered her a sad smile. It all made sense now.

That night at the bar, the time Castiel called her Dean in the ghost house. It seemed they were destined to find each other.

"Ok, I remember that we have met before, why have you come back to tell me that?" Melody asked and Dean felt a small amount of nerves for the first time.

"I want to give it a try" he said watching Melody give him a look of hope.

"I want to try the phone calls, text messages, hot yearly make-out sessions and sex in the car" Then he couldn't stop the magnetic pull he'd been fighting for the last ten minutes and his lips moved to find hers.

He felt her arms snake around his neck as he used his own to pull her in as close as possible. They didn't have much time. Melody was on her way East to help another hunter and Dean needed to go find Sam. This is how it was always going to be for them and Dean was finally ok with that.

He moved his lips towards her ear so that he could whisper and could feel her shiver as he gently breathed against her neck.

"Which one of the list do you want to do first?" he quietly asked

Melody moved away long enough to look him in the eyes. He swore for a moment they had the devil in them as she took him by the hand and led him out of the room into the parking lot.

_Sex in the car!_

Dean gave a lazy smile as he looked over to the Impala and followed her lead. But she seemed to pull him away from his car and Dean turned to come face to face with the pink mystery machine. He nearly choked at the idea

"There is no way in hell…." he tried to protest but Melody had already got his belt buckle undone as she pulled open the side door and pushed him inside.


End file.
